


DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS 



BULLETIN 130 



THE BLIND POPULATION 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES 



1910 




v 







»<* 



DERARTM ENT 
OP COMMERCE 



LIST OF PUBLICATIONS 

OF THE 

PERMANENT CENSUS BUREAU 



BUREAU OF THE CENSUS 
SAM. L. ROGERS, Director 



The following circulars of information concerning the Bureau of the Census will be sent upon request: 

TENTATIVE PROGRAM 1913-1916. @ LIST OF PUBLICATIONS. @ THE PERMANENT CENSUS BTJREATJ. 

THE STORY OF THE CENSUS: 1790-1815 
For list of Thirteenth Census publications, see back of cover. 



«»JJ? ri'Zl&ifS ^ { \l com # e Ijfl ° f the Publications of the permanent Bureau of the Census. A limited number of some of the 
reports of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Censuses are available for distribution, lists of which may be had on application All census 
S^ 8 , ""*• re P ort * are ° f q ^ to J 31ze (9i ^ IH.inches), but a number of the miscellaneous publications are of oSvo 5J by 9* inches? 
™tf -T ^ n- G P ubh ^ on 3 marked with an asterisk (*) are out of print; publications available for distribution &ay b '53 
on application to the Director of the Census, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. y "*" 



Benevolent institutions: 1904 and 1910. 
The blind and the deaf: 1900. 

Central electric light and power stations: 1902. *1907 

and 1912. ' 

A century of population growth from the First Census 

of the United States to the Twelfth: 1790-1900. 
Electrical industries: 1902. 
Express business in the United States: 1907. 
Fisheries of the United States: 1908. 
Indians iu the United States: 1910. 
Insane and feeble-minded in hospitals and institutions: 

1904 and 1910. 
Manufactures: 1905: 

Part I— United States by industries. 
*Part II— By states and territories. 
♦Part III— Selected industries: Including com- 
bined textiles; cotton; hosiery and knit goods; 
wool; silk; flax, hemp, and jute products; dyeing 
and finishing textiles; buttons; needles, pins, 
and hooks and eyes; oilcloth and linoleum; boots 
and shoes; leather, tanned, curried, and finished; 
leather gloves and mittens; butter, •cheese, and 
condensed milk; flour and gristmill products; 



REPORTS 

Manufactures: 1905— Part III— Continued. 

starch; canning and preserving; rice, cleaning 
and polishing; beet sugar; slaughtering and meat 
packing; manufactured ice; salt; cottonseed 
products; tobacco; lumber and timber prod- 
ucts; turpentine and rosin; paper and wood 
pulp; printing and publishing; pens and pen- 
cils; ejass; clay products. 
♦Part IV— Selected industries: Including iron and 
steel; tin and terne plate: copper, lead, and zinc, 



smelting and refining; agricultural implements; 
electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies; 
metal-working machinery; musical instruments, 



attachments, and materials; automobiles; bi- 
cycles and tricycles; carriages and wagons; ship- 
building; the steam and street railroad car 
industry; chemicals and allied produots; coke; 
petroleum refining; power employed; earnings 
of wage earners. 

Marriage and divorce: 1867-1906: 

*Part I— Summary, laws, foreign statistics. 
Part II— General tables. 

Mines and quarries: 1902. 

BULLETINS 



Mortality statistics: 1900-1904. 

Mortality statistics: 1906, 1906, 1907, *1908, 1909, 1910. 
1911, 1912, and 1913. ' • 

Paupers in almshouses: 1904 and 1910. 
Prisoners and juvenile delinquents in institutions: 

Religious bodies: 1906: 

Part I— Summary and general tables. 
♦Part II— Separate denominations: History, de- 
scription, and statistics. 
Statistics of cities having a population of over 30,000: 

1905, 1906, 1907, *1908, 1909, •1910, 1911, and 1912. 
'Street and electrio railways: 1902, *1907, 1912, and 

Telephones and telegraphs: 1902. 

Telephones: 1907 (for Telegraph systems: 1907, see Bul- 
letin 102). 

Telephones and telegraphs and municipal electric fire- 
alarm and police-patrol signaling systems: 1912. 

Transportation by water: 1906. 

Wealth, debt, and taxation: 1913— Volumes I and II. 

♦W omen at work, statistics of (based on schedules of 
the Twelfth Census, 1900). 



fo unS°in E any T oth» ^JSS^^^^^^^^^^J^^. «■** **«!«* statistical material not 



any other publications of the bureau. Many others, notably th. 



..v.- »,„™ *v„ f„.*vf, „„:_" _~ : — , zr """' »'«"i ■«"»»") muse iciouuf; to ine census oi manuiaciures, are ma 

SSE.h J?™ / ■ c 9 mm f r ep i r « te '°£ the census ' or of such important preliminary statistics as may be rapidly tabulated 
5Sta.?SS SLTinni^ , C £r ta £ led *F *5£ reports P™**'"- These f ^ ts anrf figures are presented in this form in order that s 
bearing on particular subjects, or for the purpose of more prompt presentation thereof 



f^StoJhe census of manufactures, are made up practically of literal" ertraets or chapters 
Still others represent a condensation or sum- 
separate distribution may be made of material 



Abstract of special bulletins, Wealth, debt, and 

taxation: 1913 (unnumbered). 
Age statistics, a discussion of: 1880, 1890, 1900 ... 13 
Assessed valuation of property and amounts and 

rates of levy: 1860-1912 (unnumbered). 
The blind population of the United States: 1910. 130 
•Central electric light and power stations: 1902. . 5 

Same,19l2 124 

♦Child labor in the District of Columbia: Twelfth 

Census, 1900 08 

Child labor in the United States: Twelfth C«n- 

sus,1900 69 

Chinese and Japanese in the United States: 1910." 127 
Commercial valuation of railway operating 

property in the United States: 1904 21 

Cotton ginned in the United States: Crops of 

1899 to 1902, inclusive * 2 

*Same, crops of 1899 to 1903 , inclusive ... . 10 
•Same, crons of 1900 to 1904 , inclusive 19 

Cotton production: 1905. (The statistics of 

cottonseed products, gathered at the quin- 

Suennial census of manufactures, are also 
wwn in this bulletin) 40 

Same,1906 75 

Same,1907 95 

*Same,190S 100 

Same, 1909 J07 

Barns, 1910. (The statistics of cottonseed 
products, gathered at the quinquennial 
census of manufactures, are also shown in 

thisbulletin) ni 

8ame, 1911 " n4 

Same,l9l2 xie 

Same, 1913 ."[[] 125 

Cotton supply and distribution for the year end- 
ing August 31, 1905 25 

*Same,1906 «3 

Same,i907 on 

Same,1908 97 

Same,19TO i 06 

6ame,1910 " nn 

Same,1911 ,;•> 

Samo,19l2 115 

Same. 1913 '117 

Same, 1914 ."'.'.".'.'.".'.'.'.'.'."" 128 

County and munioipal indebtedness, IS90-1913: 
and sinking fund assets, 1913 (unnumbered), 
expenditures, and public nrOD- 
I ■■ (unnumbered). 
Earnings of wage earners (a study based on cen- 
sus of manufactures, 1905). ... 03 
TJIectrlcal > ,n Uico: 1907. " U9 
o£ national weulth: 185<M9i2 

illation: 1904, 1905, 1906 71 

.. . 122 
the larcer cities of 

, IW)2, and 1903 7 

■ rited states, sta- 



Etrtim&to 

Executive 

I 



1880, 



Bull, No. 
, -J1900, a discussion. 4 
Industrial districts: 1905. Manufactures and 

population joi 

Insane and feeble-minded in institutions: 1910.. 119 
Insular and municipal finances in Porto Rico 

for the fiscal year 1902-3 24 

Irrigation in the United States: 1902 16 

♦Marriage and divorce: 1887-1906 96 

Mineral industries of Porto Rico: 1902.. 6 

Mines and quarries: 1902 9 

Mortality statistics: 1908 104 

♦Same, 1909 108 

Same, 1910 109 

Same. 1911 112 

Municipal electric fire alarm and police patrol 

systems: 1902 n 

Same, 1912 123 

Municipal revenues, expenditures, and public 

properties: 1913 (unnumbered). 
National and state indebtedness: 1893-1913 (un- 
numbered). 
National and state revenues and expenditures, 
1913 and 1903, and value of public properties, 
by states, 1913 (unnumbered). 

♦Negroes in the United States: 1900 8 

Same, 1910 129 

Paupers in almshouses: 1910 120 

Population of Oklahoma and Indian Territory: 



Prisoners and juvenile delinquents: 1910 

Proportion of children in the United States (a 
study based on reports of the Twelfth and 
preceding censuses) 

Proportion of the sexes In the United States (a 
study based on reports of the Twelfth and 



121 



preceding censuses) 
teligious b' " 
enlarged) . 



: 1906 (2d ed., revised and 



Statistics of cities having a population of 8,000 to 

25 ,000 : 1903 

Statistics of cities having a population of over 

25,000: 1902 and 1903 

Statistics of cities having a population of over 

30,000: 1904 

Same, 1907, abstract of annual report 

♦Same, 1912 

Same, 1913 

♦Street and electric railways: 1902 

Same, 1912 

Supervisors' districts for the Thirteenth Census: 

1910 

Taxation and revenue systems of state and 
local governments (a digest of constitu- 
tional and statutory provisions relating to 
taxation in the different states in 1912) (un- 
numbered). 
Toaehers, statistics of (a study based on reports 



of the Twelfth and preceding censuses). 
Telegraph systi IvOTi 

rnphs: 1902 

1 
Transportation by water: 1906. United S 
f the Twelfth Census: 1 



MANUFACTURES, CENSUS OF 1905 

SPECIAL INDUSTRIES 

(The statistics presented in these bulletins are 
reproduced in Parts III and IV of the Report 
on Manufactures: 1905.) 



Agricultural implements 75 

Automobiles and bicycles and tricycles '...'. 66 

Boots and shoes, leather, and leather gloves aiid 

mittens 72 

Butter, cheese, and condensed milk, flour" "and 

gristmill products, and starch 64 

Canning and preserving, rice cleaning and pol- 
ishing, and the manufacture of beet sugar 61 
Carriages and wagons, and the steam and street 

railroad car industry 54 

Chemicals and allied products ".!!!" 92 

Copper, lead, and zinc, smelting and refining.'." 86 

Coke ^ ( eg 

Electrical maohinery, apparatus, and supplies." . 73 

Glass and clay products 62 

Iron and steel and tin and teme plate 78 

Lumber and timber products 77 

Metal-working machinery ' 67 

Musical instrumen ts.attachments, and materials. 82 

♦Paper and wood pulp 80 

Pens and penoils, buttons, needles, pins, and 
hooks and eyes, oilcloth and linoleum, and 

turpentine and rosin 85 

Petroleum refining * . 70 

Power employed in manufactures. ......'.'.'.'.'.... 88 

Printing and publishing 79 

Shipbuilding gl 

♦Slaughtering and meat packing, manufactured 

Ice.andsalt 83 

♦Textiles 74 

Tobacco . 87 



STATES AND TERRITORIES 

(The statistics presented In these bulletins are 
reproduced in Part II of the Report on Manu- 
factures: 1905.) 

•United States 

Alabama (43). Arizona, Indian Territory, New 
Mexico, and Oklahoma (30), California, Ore- 
gon, and Washington (49), Colorado, Idaho, 
Nevada, and Utah (37), Connecticut (42), 
Delaware (31), Florida (33), Georgia (55) 
Illinois (52), Indiana (38), Iowa (32), Kansas, 
(28), Kentucky and Tennessee (47), Louisiana, 
Mississippi, and Texas (48). Maine (51), Mary- 
land and District of Columbia (27), Massachu- 
setts (53), Michigan (statistics for 1901) (18), 
Minnesota (46) Missouri and Arkansas (35), 
Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and 
Wyoming (34), Nebraska (29), New Hamp- 
shiri and Vermont (41), New Jersey (54), New 
: < i !: : "9), North Carolina and South Carolina 
(39), Ohio (58), Pennsylvania (00), Rhode 
1 ■•'■•i-.d (36). Virginia and West Virgin!* (44), 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 
BUREAU OF THE CENSUS 



SAM. L. ROGERS, DIRECTOR 



BULLETIN 130 



THE BLIND POPULATION 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES 
1910 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1915 



Mwg raf* 






0. OF 0, 

JUL 3 1915 



CONTENTS. 



TEXT. 

Page. 

Summary- and comparison with earlier censuses 9-11 

Comparison with Foreign countries 11, 12 

Geographic distribution of the blind 12-14 

14, 15 

16-23 

Race and nativity 23-26 

Race, nativity, and age 26-31 

Country of birth of the foreign-born whites 31 

Marital condition 31-34 

Occupations 35-38 



MAP. 
Blind population per 100,000 of the general population, by states: 1910 13 

GENERAL TABLES. 

Table 1. — Blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to race, nativity, and sex, by divisions and 

states: 1910 41 

Table 2. — Foreign-born white blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to country of birth, by 

divisions and states: 1910 42 

Table 3. — Blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to age and sex, by divisions and states: 1910. 43 

Table 4. — Blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to race, nativity, and age, by divisions: 1910. 46 

Table 5. — Blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to race, nativity, age, and sex, for the United 

States as a whole: 1910 48 

Table 6. — Male and female blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to marital condition, by 

divisions and states: 1910 49 

Table 7. — Male and female blind population enumerated at the population census, classified according to race, nativity, and mari- 
tal condition, for the United States as a whole: 1910 50 

Table S. — Male and female blind population 15 years of age or over enumerated at the population census, classified according to 

. i 1 marital condition: 1910 50 

Table 9. — Male and female blind population 10 years of age or over enumerated at the population census, classified according to 

occupation, for the United States as a whole: 1910 51 

(3) 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, 

Bureau of the Census, 

Washington, D. C, May 26, 1915. 
Sir: 

I transmit herewith a bulletin on the blind population of the United States in 1910. The census data 
relative to the blind were obtained in part from the schedules used in enumerating the general population of 
the United States, and in part from special schedules mailed to every person reported as blind on the popu- 
lation schedules. The bulletin herewith submitted presents a tabulation and discussion of the data obtained 
from the general population schedules. The final report on the blind, which is to appear later, will present 
ako the data obtained from the special schedules. 

This bulletin was prepared in the division of revision and results by Mr. Reginald L. Brown, under the 
supervision of Dr. Joseph A. Hill, expert special agent in charge of that division. 
Respectfully, 




Director of the Census. 
To Hon. William C. Redkield, 

Secretary of Commerce. 

(5) 



THE BLIND POPULATION OF THE 
UNITED STATES: 1910 



(-) 



THK BLIND POPULATION OF THH UNITED STATES: 1910. 



The census data regarding the blind population of 
the United States in 1910 were obtained in part from 
the schedule employed in the enumeration of the gen- 
eral population, which contained a column for report- 
ing rases of blindness, and in part, from a special 
schedule mailed to each person who was reported as 
blind. This bulletin summarizes the main facts of 
statistical interest which can he brought out by a tab- 
ulation of the data on the general population schedule. 
It shows the composition of the blind population as 
regards sex, age, race and nativity, and marital condi- 
tion, comparing it with that of the general population, 
and also gives statistics in regard to the occupations 
pursued by the blind. It will be followed later by a 
special report on the blind, which, in addition to a 
somewhat fuller analysis of the data derived from the 
population schedule, will include the additional infor- 
mation secured by means of the special schedule 
referred to above. 

SUMMARY AND COMPARISON- WITH EARLIER CENSUSES. 

The total blind population enumerated at the popu- 
lation census of 1910 was 57,272, representing a de- 
of 7,491, or 11.6 per cent, as compared with 
the number reported for 1900 (64,763). Owing to 
changes in the method of enumeration, however, as 
well as for other reasons, it i- difficult to determine 
how far this represents an actual decrease. At the 
census of 1900 the population enumerators were re- 
quired to return the name. sex. age, and post-office 
address of each blind person on a special schedule 
provided for that purpose, receiving, as a rule, an 
additional compensation of 5 cents for each name so 
returned. At the census of 1010. on the other hand, 
cases "f blindness were, as already explained, noted on 
neral population schedule, the enumerators re- 
ceiving no additional compensation for such returns. 
It is probable that the extra compensation paid in 1900, 
by stimulating the zeal of the enumerators, may have 
secured a much more complete return of the blind pop- 
ulation at that census than in 1910; in fact, the num- 
ber of persons originally reported as blind by the enum- 
erators in 1900 was 101,123, as compared with 62,088 
in 1910, the later year thus showing a decrease, on the, 
basis of the original returns, of 39,036, or 38 
cent, as compared with the earlier.' Furthermore, 
at the census of 1910, in examining the answers on 
93320'— 15 2 



the special schedules for the purpose of determining 
whether the persons returning them had been prop- 
erly reported as blind, the definition of blindness which 
was adopted was somewhat more restrict ive than that, 
which appears to have been followed in 1900, with the 
result that many persons were eliminated in 1910 who 
would probably have been classed as blind at the earlier 
census. On the other hand, in tabulating the statis- 
tics for 1900 a total of 19,884 persons originally re- 
ported as blind but failing to return the special sched- 
ule of inquiry were entirely omitted, although it is 
probable that a large proportion of these persons, if 
not the majority, were actually blind, whereas at 
the present census all persons reported as blind 
by the population enumerators have been included, 
without regard to whether they returned the special 
schedule, unless definite information obtained by cor- 
respondence or from the schedules showed that they 
had been improperly reported as blind in the first in- 
stance. Owing to these differences in the methods 
followed at the two censuses, any comparison be- 
tween the absolute numbers reported for the respec- 
tive years is of doubtful value. 

The census of 1910 was the ninth at which statistics 
in regard to the blind population have been secured, 
the enumeration of the blind having formed a regular 
feature of Federal census activities for a longer con- 
tinuous period of time than any other inquiry except 
the decennial enumeration of the population; and 
even in the case of the general population the funda- 
mental facts of sex, color, and age are the only subjects 
concerning which the statistics extend further back 
in unbroken series than do those of the blind. More- 
over, so far as it has been possible to determine, the 
United States was the firsl Country to make an enu- 
meration of the blind a permanent feature of its official 
statistical activities, and apparently (lie first to take 
any official census of the blind whatever, although it 
is possible that one or two European countries may 
have made earlier enumerations. In spite of the 

1 The difference between these figures and those representing the 
blind population of the United States as given in the published 
reports for the respective years represents persons ascertained by 
correspondence or otherwise '" have been incorrectly reported as 
blind, duplications in the returns, and also, in the case of the 
figure for J'">n, persons failing !•> return the s],<'<i:il schedule of 
inquiry Benl oul to each person reported a- 1,1 i ml by the enumerators, 
these latter having been excluded altogether from the tabulation 

tot thai ' <Or-us. 

(9) 



10 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



long period over which the Federal statistics of the 
blind extend, however, they shed very little light on 
the question as to whether blindness is relatively more 
or less frequent at the present time than in the past. 
Differences in method and other causes have affected 
the completeness with which the blind population 
was enumerated at the different censuses; and in the 
more recent enumerations differences in the definition 
of blindness have brought in a further element of 
uncertainty as to the degree of comparability existing 
in the figures. On account of the historical interest 
attaching to the Federal census of the blind, however, 
Table 1 is presented, which shows the blind popula- 
tion of the United States as reported at each census 
from 1830 to 1910, inclusive, together with the number 
per 100,000 of the general population and the apparent 
percentage of increase or decrease as compared with 
the preceding census. 



Table 1 


BLIND POPULATION OF THE 
UNITED STATES. 


YEAR. 


Total. 


Per 

100,000 
general 
popula- 
tion. 


Per cent of 

increase 

over 

preceding 
census.' 




57, 272 

04, 763 

50,-.t;s 

48, 928 
20, :;■_>(! 
12, 658 
9,794 
6,932 
5,444 


85! 2 
80.8 
97.6 
52.7 
40.3 
42.2 
40.6 
42.3 






28.1 






140.8 
60.5 

4L3 










1830 









There is little question that for all censuses prior 
to 1880 the figures for the blind population are seri- 
ously deficient, 1 but they should, theoretically at least, 
be generally comparable with each other, as at all five 
censuses the enumerators were permitted to follow out 
their own ideas as to who should be reported as blind, 2 
and no change of consequence was made during the 
period in the method of reporting. An analysis of the 
returns for the census of 1870 tends to show, however, 
that this census was somewhat more complete, par- 
ticularly as regards the enumeration of negroes in the 
South, than those preceding it. Some part of the 
large increase between 1860 and 1870, it is true, prob- 
ably resulted from blindness caused by wounds received 
or disease contracted in the Civil War, but the fact 
disclosed by a later table (Table 5) that the number 

1 " The figures for the United States censuses previous to 1880 are 
worthless so far as the calculation of ratios of blind to population 
are concerned." (Report on the Insane, Feeble-minded, Deaf and 
Dumb, and Blind in the United States at the Eleventh Census: 
1890, p. 127.) 

2 In 1870, it is true, the enumerators were instructed to report 
only persons who were totally blind (instructions at previous cen- 
suses having been silent on this point), but in view of the consid- 
erable increase in the number of blind reported in 1870 as compared 
with 18G0, it is hardly probable that this instruction brought about 
any material change. 



of blind females shows an even greater relative increase 
during this decade than the number of blind males 
makes it apparent that other factors besides the war 
were contributory. 

The census of 1880 was probably the most complete 
enumeration of the blind ever obtained in the United 
States, a special effort being made at this census to 
secure an accurate return of all the defective classes 
for which the Census Office was required to obtain 
statistics. Prior to this census a line or column on 
the general population schedule had been the only 
medium for securing the return of the blind popula- 
tion; in 1880, however, a special supplementary 
schedule for the blind was provided, on which the 
enumerator was required to answer certain special 
inquiries for each blind person enumerated, receiving 
an additional compensation of 5 cents for each name 
reported on this schedule. This schedule for the first 
time furnished the enumerators with definite instruc- 
tions to assist them in determining who should be 
reported as blind, these instructions being as follows: 

In this enumeration will be included not only the totally blind, 
but also the semiblind. No person will be carried on this schedule, 
however, who can see sufficiently well to read. * * * The 
totally blind are unable to distinguish forms or colors; the partially 
blind can distinguish forms or colors, but can not see to read, or 
at least not without such effort as to make reading practically 
impossible. 

Actually, as a matter of fact, the decision as to 
whether a given person should be reported as blind 
was to a considerable extent still left to the judg- 
ment of the enumerator, since a test based on ability 
or inability to read manifestly can not be applied 
when the individual in question has never learned to 
read, as of course frequently happens, notably in cases 
where blindness is congenital or occurred in early 
childhood and in sections of the country where 
illiteracy is common. The enumerators' returns of the 
blind population were supplemented to a certain ex- 
tent by correspondence with institutional officials and 
local physicians. The results of the special diligence 
employed at this census are reflected in the great 
relative increase shown in the number of blind persons 
enumerated as compared with 1870; in particular it 
seems probable that the specific statement that the 
enumerator was to include the "partially" blind may 
have resulted in the return of a considerable number 
of persons who would not have been reported at the 
previous census, when the instructions to the enumer- 
ators stated that the inquiry was intended to cover 
"total" blindness only. 

Although the machinery employed in securing 
statistics of the blind was essentially the same in 1890 
as in 1880, except that the enumerators' returns do 
not appear to have been supplemented by corre- 
spondence, the large decrease in the number of blind 



COMPARISON Willi PUKYiors CI'.XSISI.S. 



II 



persona reported per 100,000 of the genera] popula- 
tion indicates that there may perhaps have been a 
somewhat less complete enumeration at the later cen- 
sus. A change in the instructions also in all proba- 
bility had some influence upon the number returned, 
the enumerators being required to report "every per- 
son who can not with each eye separately count accu- 
rately the number of fingers of another person held 

up before him at a distance of 1 foot." It will he 
noted that these instructions call for a return of per- 
sons blind in only one eye. as well as of those blind in 
both eyes. The two classes were, however, tabulated 
separately, and the figures for L890 given in this Ind- 
ict in relate in all cases to persons blind in both eyes. 
The method of obtaining the statistics for 1000 has 
already been described; the principal change, as com- 
pared with 1S00, consisted in substituting for the 
supplemental schedule formerly filled out by the. 
enumerator an individual schedule which was sent by 
mail to each person reported as blind. At this census 
31 by means of which the enumerators were to 
determine whether a given case of defective vision 
was sufficient to constitute blindness was changed once 
more, to essentially the same basis as in 1880, the 
instructions reading as follows: 

* * * if you find that some member of the family can not 
see well, you will then ask whether he or she can see well enough 
liook; ami should it appear that the sight is so seriously 
impaired that it is impossible for the person to read a hook, even 
with the aid of glasses, then you will note such person as "Blind," 
even though, as a matter of fact, he or she may have some slight 
:" Eight 

In tabulating the returns, practically all persons 
filling out the special schedule appear to have been 
included, even if the blindness was confined to only 
one eye or the person reporting was suffering from 
merely defective vision without being blind in the. 
strict sense of the term. These changes in the basis 
of enumeration and of tabulation probably account, at 
least in major part, for the fact that the number of 
blind tabulated at this census per 100.000 population 
was somewhat greater than in 1890, notwithstanding 
the elimination of all those persons who were origi- 
nally enumerated a- blind, but failed to return the 
special schedule. 

The differences in method between the censuses of 
1900 and loio have already been described (p. 9). 
oral, it should be dear from the preceding dis- 
cussion that the figures Bhown in Table 1 aro of little 
value as a measure of the actual increaso or decrease 
in the relative frequency of blindness during the period 
covered. It is not improbable, nevertheless, that the 
changes in the ratio of the reported blind population 
to the total population shown by Table 1 may in some 
reflect actual changes in the prevalence of 
blindness. During the. half century between I860 and 
1910 certain definite causes tending t.> produce an 



increase in the relative frequency of blindness were in 

operation, conspicuous among these being the increase 
in the proportion of old people in the general popula- 
tion, the rapid industrial development of the country, 
with the consequent increase in blindness occasioned 
by industrial accidents or occupational diseases, and, 

during the earlier years of the period more particu- 
larly, the effects of the Civil War in causing blindness 

through wounds or disease! incident to military service. 
It seems not unlikely that these causes contributed in 
some degree to the apparent increase in the ratio of 
the blind to the total population between I860 and 
1880. As against those influences there is the great 
advance in medical knowledge of the eye and its dis- 
eases, particularly during recent years, which has 
contributed greatly to the prevention of blindness, 
and also the movement for the prevention of industrial 
accidents and occupational diseases. These factors in 
turn may account in part for the decline in t ho ratio 
since 1880, especially as the statistics for the leading 
European countries taking censuses of the blind also 
show a tendency toward a decrease in the ratio during 
this period. 

COMPARISON WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 

Table 2 shows, for the United States and for most 
of the foreign countries taking censuses of the blind, 
the blind population as reported in the latest year for 
which returns are at hand, together with the total 
population and the number of blind persons per 
100,000 of the total population. 

The total blind population of all the countries given 
in the above table is 1,194,346. The total population 
of these countries being 874,376,489, the ratio of blind 
in the aggregate is 136.6 per 100,000 population. The 
countries specified comprise about one-half of the esti- 
mated total population of the globe, and on that basis 
it might be estimated that the total number of blind 
persons in the w T orld is about 2,390,000. Probably, 
however, this is an underestimate, as those regions not 
covered by a census are in large part inhabited by 
uncivilized or backward races, among wdiom blindness 
is likely to be more prevalent than it is where civiliza- 
tion is further advanced. The statistics are affected 
by SO many different factors, such as differences in the 
methods and scope of the enumerations and in the 
constitution of the general population, particularly as 
regards age, that comparisons become difficult and 
uncertain: nevertheless, the ratios probably do indi- 
cate in a more or less general way the relative fre- 
quency of blindness in the respective countries. It is 
therefore of interest to observe that the ratio between 
the reported blind population and the total population 
in the United States i> comparatively low. the only 
important countries showing lower ratios being Bel- 
gium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, 
and New Zealand. 



12 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



COUNTRY. 



North America. 



Bermuda Islands 

British Honduras 

Canada 

Danish Antilles 

Grenada 

Jamaica 

Mexico 

Newfoundland and Labrador. . . 

St. Lucia 

Trinidad and Tobago 

United States: 

Continental United States. . 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 

South America. 

Argentina 2 

Bolivia 3 

Chile 

Uruguay 

Europe. 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Cyprus 

Denmark * 

England and Wales 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Prussia 

Saxony 

Gibraltar 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Isle of Man and Channel Islands 

Italy 

Malta and Gozo 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Portugal s 

Roumania 

Russia (European) e 

Scotland 

Serbia 

a 

rland 

Asia. 

Ceylon 

Formosa ' 

Hongkong s 

India 

Philippine Islands i° 

Russia (Asiatic) « 

Africa. 

Egypt" 

Gambia 

Mauritius and dependencies 

St. Helena 

Seychelles Islands 

Sierra Leone 

Uganda Protectorate » 

Union of South Africa 

Cape of Good Hope 

Natal 

Orange Free State 

Transvaal 

Australasia. 

Commonwealth of Australia "... 

New South Wales 

Queensland 

South Australia 

Tasmania 

Victoria 

Western Australia 

New Zealand > 5 



KiiU 
nun 

l!l()l 
1911 

11)01 

1901 
1911 
1910 
1911 
1901 
1901 

1910 

1010 
1010 



1910 
1010 
1905 
1901 
1911 
1911 
1900 
1901 
1900 
1910 
1910 
1901 
1900 
1911 
1911 
1901 
1901 
1909 
1910 
1911 



19111 
1905 
1911 

1911 

1909 



1007 
1901 
1901 
1901 
1901 
1901 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 



1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 



Total 
population. 



20,' 
37, 

7.2m,,. 



1,633.010 
3. 249, 279 
1,042,686 



28,570,800 
7,416,454 
4,035,575 
237, 152 
2,757,076 

36,070,492 
2,712,502 

38,400,924 

50.307,178 

40, 165, 219 

4,806,661 

27, 4C0 

19,254,559 

4,390,219 

148,915 

32, 475, 253 
207,890 
5,858,175 
2,357,760 
5,960,056 
5, 956, CC0 
102,845,117 
4,760,004 
2,492,882 
5,136,441 

'2,917,754 



3, 573, 419 
3,039,751 
438,873 
9 315, 156, 396 
6,987,686 
22,794,904 



11,189,978 
13, 456 
378, 195 



2.- 1. ;■_>.■ HI) 
5,973,394 
2.501,915 
1,194,043 



4,455,005 

1,040,734 
605,813 
408, 558 
191,211 

1,315,551 
282.114 

1,008,468 



BLIND POPULATION. 



5,342 
1,732 
1,452 
26,336 

27, 174 
34,334 
20, 953 
2,260 



155 

38, 1C0 
418 
2,710 
2,183 
7,916 
4,967 
207. 308 
3,317 



443,653 
15,811 
40.532 



78 

o! 550 
3,082 
1,036 
516 
1,916 



Per 
100,000 
total 
popula- 



251.2 
C 1 ) 
157.4 

44.9 
278.4 
107.2 
209.3 

78.2 
118.3 
244.6 
186.9 

62.3 
93.8 
143.4 



43.5 
132.4 
730.3 

52.7 

73.0 
119.0 

70.6 



52.2 

47.0 
120.2 
100.6 

98.2 
104.1 
117.5 
201.1 

46.3 

132^8 



94.1 
00.4 
72.2 



104.9 
515.7 
51.3 
141.6 



1,325.1 
C 1 ) 
158.1 



101.8 
317.7 
109.7 
120.2 



3,142 


70.5 


1,011 


61.4 


3S3 


63.2 


358 


87.6 


146 


76.4 


1,102 


83.8 



1 Ratio not shown by reason of the smallness of the numbers involved. 

2 Exclusive of uncivilized Indians. 

3 Enumerated populal ion only. 
< Exclusive of Faroe Islands. 

& Include. Azores and Madeira. 

« Including Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 

» In the year 1888. 

8 Chinese population. 

'Includes 1,754,545 persons for whom no returns as to infirmities were se- 
cured. These were deducted in computing the ratio. 

10 Civilized population. 

» Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. 

'2 Exclusive of estimated liadaw i population. 

'3 Native populal ion in adminislered districts. 

h Exclusive of iiill-lilooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Fed- 
eral Capital Territory. 

»'' Exclusivo of Maoris and of populal ion of annexed Pacific islands. 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLIND. 

Table 3 shows, for the different geographic divisions 
and states, the total blind population reported in 
1910 and in 1900, together with the number of blind 
persons enumerated per 100,000 of the general popu- 
lation. In connection with this table, however, what 
has previously been said as to the general compara- 
bility of the figures for the two censuses should be 
borne in mind. 



DIVISION AND STATE. 



United States... 

Geographic divisions: 
New England. . . 

Middle Atlantic 

East North Central. 
West North Central. 

South Atlantic 

East South Central. 
West South Central. 

Mountain 

Pacific 

New England: 

Maine 

New Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode Island 

Connecticut 

Middle Atlantic: 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

East North Central: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

West North Central: 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North Dakota 

South Dakota 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

South Atlantic: 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District of Columbia 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 

East South Central: 

Kentucky 

Tennessee 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

West South Central: 

Arkansas 

. Louisiana 

Oklahoma 

Texas 

Mountain: 

Montana 

Idaho 

Wyoming 

Colorado 

New Mexico 

Arizona 

Utah 

Nevada 

Pacific: 

Washington 

Oregon , 

California 



BLIND POPULATION. 



4,090 
10, 001 
11,731 

6,679 



2,0!6 
314 
553 



3,740 
2,121 

2,975 
1,574 



1,563 
1,011 

1,701 



1,956 
L338 



Per 

100,000 
general 
popula- 



51.8 
64.3 
57.4 
67.9 

64! 
67.9 
49.3 



78.8 
67.6 



57^9 
49.6 

51.5 

44.4 
54.6 



78.5 
52. 8 
50. 1) 
56.6 

42.4 

62.4 
74.1 



64.7 

01.9 
67.4 
SO.O 
65.3 



53! 4 



44.7 
48.5 



169.3 
95.9 
50.4 

118.5 



4,846 
10, 931 
14,666 
8,714 
9,159 
8,221 
5,264 
1,307 
1,655 



724 
417 
456 
2,217 
285 
747 



4,466 
2,987 
3,767 
1,946 
1,500 

2.014 



1,788 
1,102 
2,034 



2,780 
2,400 
1,791 
1,250 



Per 

100,000 
general 
popula- 



70.7 
91.7 
84.2 
87.7 
108.9 

78! 



104.3 
101.3 
132.7 
79.0 
66.5 
82.2 

75.5 
53.3 
70.5 

107.4 
118.7 
78.1 



50.6 
90.2 
107.0 
52.6 



76.9' 
82.7 
72.5 
85.7 
96.5 
94.4 



40.7 

2l! 6 
54.7 
230.4 
56.1 



Both in 1910 and in 1900 the ratio of the blind to the 
total population was higher in the East South Central 
division than in any other geographic division, the 
prominence of this division in this respect probably 
being due to the fact that it contains the states of 



(ilXKiHAIMHC DISTKIBITION. 



L8 



Kentucky and Tennessee, in certain parts of which 
trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness, is 
especially prevalent, although the fact thai paining, 
a branch of industry containing a special hazard of 

blindness from accident, is carried on to an important 
extent in this division may play some pari in raising 
the ratio. Of the individual states, New Mexico 
showed the highesl ratio at each census, followed by 
Nevada in L910 and Vermont in 1900; the high ratio 
for the first two states named is probably occasioned 
by the fact that Indians, among whom trachoma is 
more or less endemic in these sections of the country, 
constitute a relatively Large element in their popular 
tion, while l tin t for Vermont resulted from the excep- 
tionally high percentage of persons at the older ages, 
when the incidence of blindness is greatest, in its popu- 
lation. 

For both years thelowesl ratio shown for any goo- 
graphic division is that for the Pacific division, the 
Middle Atlantic division ranking next. The low rank 
of the Pacific division in respect to the relative fre- 
quency of blindness is probably due mainly to the cir- 
cumstance that this section of the country is to a con- 



siderable extent of comparatively recent settlement, 

newrj settled regions normally having a relatively 

small blind population by reason of the fact that blind 
persons are not apt to migrate from the district in 
which they Live. In the case of the Middle Atlantic 
division it should be noted that the population of this 
division comprises a relatively huge number of the 
more recenl immigrants, who have not reached the age 

when blindness is most frequent, while the fact that in 
this division a very large proportion of the population 
lives in large cities, where facilities for treating eye 
diseases are especially advantageous, may also accounl 
in part for the low ratio. Of the individual states, 
North Dakota shows the lowest ratio for 1010, Wyo- 
ming ranking next, while for 1000 the lowest ratios arc 
shown for Wyoming and Washington, all these being 
states which are to a greater or less extent still in 
process of settlement. 

The differences existing between the various states 
with respect to the prevalence of blindness are brought 
out graphically by the following map, which shows for 
each state the number of blind persons reported per 
100,000 of the general population in 1010. 



BLIND POPULATION REPORTED PER 100,000 OF THE GENERAL POPULATION, BY STATES: 1910 




'fable ', shows, for L910 and 1000. the per cenl dis- tion of the United States in comparison with that of 
tribution by geographic divisions of the blind popula- the total population. 



14 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 4 


PEE CENT DISTRIBUTION OF 
POPULATION. 


KIVIS.OX. 


Total. 


Blind. 




1910 1900 


1910 


1900 
















TOpw Tnclanri 


- 1 - j - i 


7.5 




21.0 
19.8 

12.7 
13.3 
9.1 
9.6 
2.9 
4.6 






21.0 

13.6 
13.7 

8.6 

2.2 
3.2 


, 20.5 

12.3 

! 9.8 

3.1 

3.6 


22.6 


















Mountain 

Pacific 


2.0 
2.6 



The distribution of the blind population shows on 
the whole a fairly close correspondence to that of the 
total population. By reason of the relatively low fre- 
quency of blindness in the Middle Atlantic division, 
however, this division, although ranking first in total 
population in 1910, ranked only second in blind popu- 
lation, its place in the latter respect being taken by 
the East North Central division, which ranked second 
in total population. The most conspicuous difference 
between the percentage of the total population re- 
ported for any division and the corresponding per- 
centage for the blind population is in the case of the 
East South Central division, which contained 12.3 
per cent of the blind population as compared with 9.1 
per cent of the total population. This results mainly 
from the high ratio of the blind to the total population 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, to which reference has 
already been made, these states containing 3.8 and 3.4 
per cent, respectively, of the blind population of the 
United States, as compared with 2.5 per cent and 2.4 
per cent, respectively, of the total population. 

SEX. 

Table 5 shows for each census from 1850 to 1910, 
inclusive, the male and female blind population of the 
United States, respectively, together with the number 
of blind males per 100 blind females, and the number of 
males per 100 females in the total population. Com- 
parative figures for 1830 and 1840 are not available. 



Table 5 


I;LIND POPULATION OP THE 
UNITED STATES. 


Males 
per 100 
females 


YEAR. 


Male. 


Female. 


Males 
per 100 
females. 


general 
popula- 
tion. 


1910 

1900 


32, 443 

37, 054 

2d', 748 
11,343 
7,227 
5,455 


24,829 
27,709 
22,488 
22,180 
8,977 
5,431 
4,339 


130.7 
133.7 
124.9 
120.6 
126.4 
133.1 
125.7 


106.0 
104.4 























At each census the number of blind males has been 
considerably in excess of the number of blind females, 
the number of males per 100 females in the blind popu- 
lation in 1910 being 130.7. The fact that the ratio of 
males to females in the blind population is so much 



higher than in the general population is to be ex- 
plained by the fact that certain important causes of 
blindness, particularly injuries in mine explosions and 
other industrial accidents and wounds received in 
military service, are causes affecting the male popula- 
tion almost exclusively. The variations from census 
to census in the ratio of blind males to blind fe- 
males are not easy to explain. The decrease in the 
ratio between 1860 and 1880 may result in part from 
an increased accuracy of enumeration, affecting the 
number of blind females to a somewhat greater extent 
relatively than the number of blind males; cases of 
blindness from injury, which, as already pointed out, 
occur among the male population to a much greater 
extent than among the female, are perhaps less likely 
to be missed than cases of blindness from disease, 
which constitute the bulk of the cases found among 
the female population. The increase in the ratio be- 
tween 1880 and 1900 may be accounted for, at least 
in part, by the great industrial growth of the country 
during this period, one result of which would naturally 
be an increase in the number of cases of blindness from 
industrial accident or occupational disease, and hence 
in the number among the male population. 

General Table 1 (p. 41) shows the total male and fe- 
male blind population reported for each geographic 
division or state in 1910. Table 6 shows, for each geo- 
graphic division, the number of blind males and blind 
females per 100,000 of the general population of the 
same sex, with the excess of the male ratio over the 
female ratio, and also the number of males per 100 
females in the blind population, in comparison with 
that in the total population. 



Table 6 


BLIND POPUI 


ation: 1910. 






Number per 100,000 general 
population of same sex. 


Males 
per 100 
females. 


Males 
per 100 
females 


DIVISION. 


Male. Female. 


Excess 
of male 
ratio 
over 
female 
ratio. 


general 
popula- 
tion: 
1910. 




68.5 


55. r, 


12.9 


130.7 


106.0 






New England 

Middle Atlantic 


68.2 
57.8 
71.2 
63.8 
73.5 
90.2 

58! 7 


56.7 
45.5 
56.9 
50.3 
62.2 
76.6 
58.9 
58.9 
37.1 


11.5 
12.3 
14.3 
13.5 
11.3 
13.6 
9.8 
15.9 
21.0 


119.5 
131.2 
132.8 
139.5 
119.7 
120.1 
125.1 
162.4 
205.0 


99.3 
103.3 
106.0 




109.9 




101.2 




101.9 




107.2 


Mountain 

Pacific 


127.9 
129.5 



In every division the blind are more numerous rela- 
tively among the male population than among the 
female. The variations between the different divi- 
sions in the excess of the ratio for males over that 
for females probably reflect chiefly variations in the 
extent to which occupations having a special hazard 
of blindness and more or less confined to the male 
population are carried on. In six of the nine divisions 






SEX. 



i;» 



the 6X0688 of the male ratio over the female ratio shows 
a fairly close correspondence to the excess for the 
United States as a whole, the exceptions being the 

Pacific ami Mountain divisions, whose important min- 
ing interests result in a specially high ratio among the 
male population as compared with the female, and 
the West South Central division, which is mainly agri- 
cultural and with almost no industries having a 
special hazard of blindness, and when 1 the divergence 
between the ratios for the two sexes is comparatively 
small 

A- was to he expected, every division shows an 
of males over females in the blind population, 
the excess being greatest in the Pacific division, where 
there are more than two blind males to every blind 
female, and smallest in the Xew England division. 
The variations in the ratios for the respective divisions 
are douhtless influenced in the main by two factors — ■ 
variations in the ratio of males to females in the popu- 



lation as a whole and variations in the relative im- 
portance of industries having a special hazard <>f 
blindness for males only. Thus the low ratio for the 
Xew England division is due mainly to the excess of 

females over males in the population of the division 

as a whole, while the high ratios for the Pacific and 

Mountain divisions are due in part to the extremely 
high ratios of males to females in the total population 

of these divisions and in part to their extensive mining 
activities, the wide difference between the sex ratios 
for the blind and tin 1 total population indicating 
clearly the importance of tin 1 latter factor in deter- 
mining the ratio. 

Table 7 shows, for the principal foreign countries 
publishing statistics of the blind, the total male and 
female blind population, the number per 100,000 popu- 
lation of the same sex, and the number of males per 
100 females in comparison with the number of males 
per 100 females in the general population. 



North America. 



Bermuda Islands. 

Canada 

Danish Antilles... 
Grenada 



1901 
1911 
1901 
1001 
1011 

Mexico 1910 

Trinidad and ToK;. 
United States: 

Continental United 

States 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 



South America. 



Argentina" 
Bolivia'... 

Chne 

Uruguay... 



Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Cyprus 

Denmark ; 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Prussia 

Saxony 

Gibraltar 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Isle of Man and Chan- 
nel Islands 

Italv 

Malta and Goio 

Netherlands 

Norway 



BUND POPULATION. 



Per 

100,000 
general 

norm- Total, 
tat ion 
ofsame 
sex. 



1,748 

1.1-7 

1,513 

416 



10.175 
1.740 



14 
B,8B0 
2, 133 



4v4 
242. 1 
100.0 



91.0 
130.5 



83.7 
144.9 
93.2 



72.5 
47.3 
118.1 
756 8 
51.6 
76.0 
90.1 

64.2 
65.2 

53.5 

v.. I) 
100.0 
97.3 

112.6 
130. 6 
103.8 

104. 8 



9,641 
1,483 

2, 112 

816 

761 

13,079 

2,020 

12.453 

16,516 

8,007 

1,016 

19 

9,797 

2. 179 



Per 
100,000 
genera] 



fatioi 



at ion 

olsame 

sex. 



(') 

41.0 
300. t 
113.6 
196.6 



55.6 

156.2 



95.3 
115.3 
67.0 
B3. 2 



66, 3 
39. 7 
147.2 
: . 
53. 8 
70.2 



162.0 
101.3 
99.1 

96.5 
104. 5 
208 8 
46.0 
81.6 



104.0 
149.9 

109. 



130. 7 
( 2 ) 
83.0 



1D5.5 
117.3 

83.4 
112.3 

90.8 
101.4 

59.9 
US. 2 
107.') 
109. 6 
122. 4 

S?.S 
97.9 

i. ; 
112.2 

'.'.. l 
110.6 



Males 
per 100 
females 
in the 
general 
popu- 
lation. 



(') 

112.9 

(') 
88.6 
91.6 
9S.0 

111.7 



104.0 
104. 4 
04.3 
93.7 
97.9 
96.8 
96.9 
97.7 
93.6 

^.1 
99.7 

89.1 
99.0 
121.5 
gg o 
91.0 



EUBOPE— continued. 



Portueal 8 

Roumania 

Russia (European) ; 

Scotland 

Serbia 

Sweden 

Switzerland 8 



Asia. 

Ceylon 

Formosa < 

Hongkong 8 

India 

Philippine Islands ' 
Russia(Asiatic)".. 



Africa. 



Egypt" 

Mauritius and depend- 
encies 

St. Helena 

Seychelles Islands 

Sierra Leone 

Uganda Protectorate". 
Union of South Africa. . 

Cape of Good Hope. 


Orange Free State. 

Transvaal 



Australasia. 

Commonwealth of Aus- 
tralia i- 

New South Wales.. 

Queensland 

South Australia 

Tasmania 

Vi't iria 

Western Australia. 
New Zealand " 



1911 

1 - 111 
1*17 
1011 
1900 

linn) 

IVi.V-C, 



HLINI) POPULATION. 



Per 

100,000 
general 
popu- 
lation 
o! same 



3. s61 
2, 979 

96. 60s 
1.6 is 



221,916 

7. sos 
19.596 



14 

39 

4,555 

3.525 

1,773 

584 

297 

921 



119.2 
516.1 
35. 7 
'13*. 3 
225. 
163.1 



409.2 

114.8 

141.2 
94.6 



79.9 

m a 

52. 6 



Per 
100,000 

general 



Male, 

per 100 

females. 



3,268 

3.025 

1,309 

502 



12B.fi 

67. 8 

211.4 

6s 5 
*l. 1 
66.2 
06.5 



515. I 
79.7 
1 14. 9 



,422.0 
114.6 

£, 

242.2 
104. 2 
100.0 
79. s 
87.4 
139. 2 



95.2 
140.8 

117 3 
95.9 
111.1 



153.5 
112.9 
81.5 
100.1 



139.4 
116.5 
135.4 
106. 4 
135. 6 
92.6 



126.4 
140.7 

125. :i 
115.7 
(■) 
117.4 

m 



females 
in the 

general 



popu 

latioi 



90.3 
103.3 
96.3 
94. 2 
105. 8 
95.3 
91.5 



114.0 
112.7 
182, 1 

'104.8 
100.2 
111.5 



120.3 
82. 5 

105.7 
95.9 
89.7 

110.7 

135.9 



110.8 

103. 1 
104.2 

134.0 

111.6 



' Ratio not shown by reason of the smallness of the numbers involved. 

' Ratio not shown where number of females is less than 100. 

» Exclusive of uncivilized Indians. 

< Enumerated population only. 

■ Exclusive of Faroe bl .nds. * 

• Includes Azores and Madeira. 

: Including Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 

» Figures for general population used in computing r 

» Chinese population. 



10 In computing this rat io persons for whom no return.- a, to hlflrmltles were secured 
! deducted from the general population. 



ipul if ion in admini 
KxHusiveof full-blooded abor 



'• Exclusive of" Maoris and of population of am ■ 



16 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



As has already been suggested, the subject of age 
is one of fundamental importance in any study of 
statistics of the blind, by reason of the fact that 
blindness, while liable to occur at any age, is pecul- 
iarly a defect incident to old age. For this reason 
special interest attaches to Table 8, which shows the 
age distribution of the blind population in 1910 in 
comparison with that of the total population, and also 
the number of blind persons per 100,000 of the gen- 
eral population of the same age. 



AGE GROUP. 



Total 

Age reported 

Under 5 years . . . 
Under 1 year 
1 to 4 years.. 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years.... 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years.... 
65 to 69 years.... 
70 to 74 years.... 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over . 

Age not reported 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES: 1910. 



3,211 



10,631,364 
2,217,342 
8,414,022 
9, 760, 632 
9, 107, 140 
9,063,603 
9,056,984 
8,180,003 
6,972,185 
6,396,100 
5,261,587 
4,469,197 
3,900,791 
2,786,951 
2,267,150 



2,291 
2.530 
2,797 
3, 325 
3,748 
3,695 
4,483 
5,102 
5,111 
5, 108 
4,129 
4,306 



Per cent 
distribu- 
tion. 



12. S 
21.9 
24.3 



It will at once be observed that, in respect to age 
distribution, the situation in the blind population is 
almost the exact reverse of that in the population at 
large, in that the number of blind persons increases, 
generally speaking, with each succeeding age group, 
while in the general population the number of persons 
enumerated decreases with each succeeding group. 
Two distinct causes contribute to bring about this 
situation. In the first place, since blindness is a defect 
which may occur at any period of life, and which is 
ordinarily not associated with any physical disorder 
likely to occasion death, the number of blind persons 
in any given generation will under normal conditions 
increase steadily with advancing years up to extreme 
old age. A second and more important factor con- 
tributing to an increase in the amount of blindness in 
the later age groups as compared with the earlier is 
found in the circumstance that two of the chief 
causes of blindness — namely, cataract, the leading 
single cause, and glaucoma — are peculiarly affections 
incident to advancing j^ears; cataract, it is true, may 
occur at any period of life, but is so commonly asso- 



ciated with old age that the term "senile cataract" is 
employed as a generic designation for all forms of 
noncongenital cataract except those resulting directly 
from traumatism or disease. As a result of these two 
important factors approximately one-half (49.4 per 
cent) of the total blind population reported in 1910 
were 60 years of age or over, while the corresponding 
proportion for the general population was only 6.8 per 
cent, or about one-sixteenth. The contrast may be 
brought out in another way, by a comparison of the 
median ages. The median age of the general popula- 
tion in 1910 was 24 years — that is, one-half of the 
general population were under 24 years of age, while 
one-half had passed that age — while the median age 
of the blind population was 59.6 years, or about two 
and one-half times as great. 

As a result of these contrasting tendencies, the num- 
ber of blind persons reported per 100,000 of the general 
population of the same age increases with each suc- 
ceeding group, from 3.2 for the group comprising 
infants under 1 year of age to the high figure of 2,574.8 
for persons 85 years of age or over. During the earlier 
years of life the increase is comparatively slow, but 
beginning with the age of 40 it proceeds at a constantly 
accelerated rate. 

The small number of infants under 1 year of age 
reported as blind (70) is at first sight somewhat sur- 
prising in view of the widespread publicity that has 
been given to the campaign for the prevention of blind- 
ness among newly born infants. As a matter of fact, 
however, it is probable that any enumeration of the 
blind will always be seriously defective as far as this 
particular age group is concerned by reason of the 
fact that in a large proportion of cases of children born 
blind or going blind soon after birth some time elapses 
before the existence of blindness is recognized, and also 
for the reason that parents will always be more or less 
reluctant to admit having blind infants, especially 
where the blindness is due to ophthalmia neonatorum, 
which involves a certain stigma to the parents by reason 
of the fact that in the majority of instances it has its ori- 
gin in venereal infection. The returns as to the number 
of blind children from 1 to 4 years of age are also in all 
probability somewhat deficient, though by no means to 
the same extent as those for infants under 1 year. 

Table 9 shows the age distribution of the blind popu- 
lation of the United States as reported at each census 
from 1860 to 1910. For censuses prior to 1860 statis- 
tics as to the age of the blind population are not avail- 
able. While, as already indicated, the absolute num- 
bers for the respective censuses are incomparable, the 
percentages should be reasonably comparable, as there 
is no very strong ground for supposing that omissions 
in the returns would materially affect the age distribu- 
tion of the reported population. In order to make 
the comparison it is necessary to employ a somewhat 
different grouping from that shown in other tables. 



\«;i:. 



17 



T«bl. !» 


n of m V HRBD 




IMO 


1900 


1890 


1S.S0 


Into 


1800 








M'MIIIU. 






Total 


57.273 


64,763 


60,568 


48.928 


20.320 


13,068 




551 

70 

4M 

l.'.'IS 

I.W7 

l.M 


645 

s 

:!.ijs 
390 


763 

too 

1.421 
3,069 

13,089 


934 
108 

8. 730 

11,043 
30, IBS 


319 

to 
■::>.> 
BOO 

1, 31? 
1,365 
4,291 
(,093 

7,529 

7 


322 




111 




383 




;.7:t 




7110 




889 




2. 880 




3.881 




1,8(8 




34 








S t PlSTRllWTION.' 


Total 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100. 


100.0 








1.0 
0.1 

II. v 

3.5 
3.9 
16.3 

0. 4 


1.0 

2.6 
4.5 
4.9 
15.3 
23.3 
4v 5 


o!2 

1.3 
2.9 
4.2 
4.5 
17.0 
24.3 
45.8 


1.9 
0.2 
1.7 
3.7 
5.6 
5.9 
K9 
22.6 
41.5 


1.6 
0.2 
1.4 
3.9 
6.5 
6.7 
21.1 
23.1 
37.1 










2.2 































its figures not available. 
• In calculating these percentages, persons whose ages were not reported have 
been excluded from the total. 

The most striking fact brought out by this table is 
the steady increase in the proportion of persons 60 
years of age or over in the blind population through- 
out the half century covered by the table, such persons 
constituting only 36 per cent, or somewhat more than 
one-third, of the total in 1S60, as compared with 49.4 
per cent, or practically one-half, 50 years later. Tliis 
is primarily due to an increase in the relative im- 
portance of this age group in the general population, 
persons 60 years of age or over representing only 4.3 
per cent of the total population of the United States 
in I860, as compared with 6.S per cent in 1910; old 
age being the period of life in which blindness is most 
prevalent, a relatively small increase in the proportion 
of the general population over 60 years will normauy 
ompanied by a relatively large increase in the 
proportion of blind above that age. The change noted 
in the age distribution of the general population is, 
in fact, more than sufficient to account for the change 
in the age distribution of the blind. But of course 
the age of the blind population is also affected br- 
other factors the influence of which is not so easily 
determinable. Among these may be mentioned the 
development of medical knowledge and treatment of 
- of the eye. which date- practically from the 
invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1851, and is there- 
fore practically synchronous with the period covered 
by the table: the probable increase in cases of blind- 
ness caused by industrial accident-: and the de- 
velopment of the campaign for the prevention of 
blindness. Doubtless these factors have affected the 
ribution of the blind, but in just what way or 
to what extent the available statistics do not indicate. 

In marked • ■ in the 

relative imp the age group comprising 

93320°— 15 3 



persons c.o years of age kv over is the decrease in the 
importance of the groups comprising persons under 
20. In I860 almost exactly one-fifth (20.1 percent) 
of the blind population reported was le-s than 20 
years of age, while in 1910 the proportion was but 
slightly more than one-tenth (10.5 per cent), each of 
the four 5-year age groups into which persons under 20 

are divided sharing the decrease. These figures, taken 
in conjunction with the fact that in 1910 the absolute 
number reported in each of the age groups under 20 
years was the smallest for any census since the in- 
auguration in isso of definite attempts to secure 
scientific statistics of the blind, make it reasonably 
certain that whatever the tendency may be a- to 
increase or decrease in the amount of blindness in the 
population taken as a whole, or in the adult population, 
there has been a decided decrease in its prevalence 
among the youngest classes. 

Of the remaining groups, that comprising persons 
from 20 to 39 years of age shows a marked decrease 
from 1860 to 1910 in its proportion of the total, and 
that comprising persons from 40 to 59 years of age 
a alight increase. The net result of the various changes 
in the age distribution of the blind population has 
been to bring about a considerable increase in the 
median age, as shown by the following table, which 
gives the median age of the blind population at each 
census from 1860 to 1910, inclusive, compared with 
that of the total population. 



Tabic lO 

YEAR. 


MEDIAN AGE OF 
POPULATION OF 
THE UNITED 
STATES.' 


VKAR. 


MEDIAN AGE OP 
POPULATION OF 
T II E U N I T E I) 

STATES.' 




Total. 


Blind. 


Total. 


Blind. 




22! 9 

21.4 


59.6 
58.9 
56.7 




20.9 
20.1 
19.4 























1 Based upon the population whose age was reported. 

The median age of the blind population reported in 
1860 was 47.7 years, as compared with 59.6 years, as 
already noted, in 1910; in other words, the median 
age of this class of the population has increased about 
12 years during the half century covered by the table. 
The blind population of the United States at the pres- 
ent time is thus a distinctly older population than it 
was 50 years ago, and it is probable that this tendency 
toward concentration in the older age groups will be- 
come even more prominent in the future, as increasing 
knowledge concerning the occupations involving a 
special risk of blindness from accident or occupational 

disease permits the development of more effective 

means of combating the industrial hazard, as the cam- 
paign for the prevention of blindness from ophthalmia 
neonatorum becomes more widely spread and more 

effective, and as the recently instituted campaign 

of the United Stales Public Health Service in the 
regions when' trachoma is endemic makes its results 
fell. 



18 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 1 1 presents statistics regarding the age distri- 
bution of the blind population in the principal foreign 
countries for which figures regarding age are available. 
For some countries it has been necessary to employ a 



grouping somewhat different from that shown for the 
majority of the countries included; wherever this has 
been done, however, the grouping employed has been 
indicated by means of a footnote. 



-BLIND POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING 
TO AGE, WITH NUMBER PER 100,000 OF THE GENERAL POPULATION OF THE SAME AGE. 



America. 

Canada 

United States: 

Continental United States 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 

Europe. 

Bulgaria 

Denmark 2 

England and Wales 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Prussia 

Saxony 

Hungary 

Ireland 



Iv. 



Netherlands 

Norway 

Russia (European) 8 
Scotland 



Switzerland. 
Ceylon 



Union of South Africa... 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Natal 

Orange Free State... 
Transvaal 



Australasia. 



Commonwealth of Australia ' 

New South Wales 

Queensland. 



South Australia 

Tasmania 

Victoria 

Western Australia. 
New Zealand « 



America. 

Canada 

United States: 

Continental United States 

Hawaii 

Port o R ico 



Europe. 



Bulgaria 

Denmark 2 

England and Wales. 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Prussia 

Saxony 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Russia (European) «. 



1911 

1900 
1901 
1900 
1910 
1910 
1900 
1911 
1901 
1909 
1910 
1897 
1911 
1900 
1900 
1895-96 

1901 
1911 
1903 
1897 



1909 
1910 
1897 

1911 

1900 
1900 



BLEST) POPULATION. 



Total. 



Under 5 

years of 

age. 



5 to 9 

years of 

age. 



10 to 14 
years of 



15 to 19 

years of 

age. 



20 to 39 

years of 

age. 



40 to 59 

years of 

age. 



60 years 

of age or 

over. 



Age not 
reported. 



57, 272 

180 

1,603 



38,160 
2,710 
2,183 

3^317 
2,345 
3,413 
2,107 

3,747 



6, 550 
3,082 
1,036 



100.0 
100.0 
100.0 

100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 
100.0 



;i,f>'-s 

27 
: 1,845 



(?) 137 

74 

17,617 



5 340 

770 

79 

'5,944 



423 

20,240 

i°2,197 

(') 



674 

237 

3 6,215 



3,127 
475 
V) 



1,274 
101, 665 
i°3,695 

7,353 



955 
323 

3 7, 527 

821 

5,931 

8,792 

5,404 

5 703 

4,785 

836 

'16,520 







3,207 
630 




4 






15, 502 
15, 204 


202 
57 
27 


9,427 

2,832 

'13,174 


17 


83 


. 1,337 
92, 251 


110 












10 


142,271 


2,023 


17,962 

3,728 
1,667 


38 


308 





PER CENT OF TOTAL.' 



( \9 
3.0 
5 7.9 



2.2 



3.9 



15.2 
11.8 
17.3 
17.6 

5 25.2 
16.2 
11.0 

( 7 ) 
15.1 
11.1 
17.5 



].-,.:; 



1 Figures given arc for age groups "under 10" and "10 to 19," respectively. 

2 Exclusive of Faroe Islands. 

3 Figures given are for age groups "20 to 41," "45 to 64," and "65 or over," respectively. 

« Figures given are approximately for age groups "under 10" and "10 to 19," respectively. 

'- Figures given are approximately for age groups "5 to 14," "15 to 29," "30 to 49," "50 to 69," and "70 or over," respectively. 

Figures given are for age groups "under 6" and "6 to 14," respectively. 

' Figures given are approximately for age croups "under 6," "6 to 14," "15 to 39," "40 to 69," and "70 or over," respectively. 

B Including Poland, out exclusive of Finland. 

'■> Civilized population. 

10 Figures given are for age groups "under 10," "10 to 14," "15 to 24," "25 to 44," "45 to 64," and "65 or over," respectively. 

11 Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. 

12 Exclusive of full-blooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Federal Capital Territory. 
'3 Exclusive of Maoris and of population of annexed Pacific islands. 

>< In calculating these percentages, persons whose age was not reported have been excluded from the total. 



\<;k. 



i.» 



U.— BLIND P0P1 l LTION Ol' THE UNITED STATES \M» OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING 

TO \t,i:. w I Til M MBER PEE L00.000 OF NIK GENERAL POPULATION 0] mi - wn. \<.i Continued. 



Onion 

Philippine Islands 1 

Afi:i \. 

Union ol South Afrii-.k 



Natal 

Orange Free State... . 

Transvaal 

At - 

Commonweal) h of Australia « 



Queensland 

south Australia 

Tasmania 

Victoria 

Western Australia 

New Zealand : 



AMERICA. 



United States: 

Continental I'nited Bta 

Hawaii 

l'orto Uico 



Bulgaria 

Denmark s 

England and Wales. 

Finland 

France 

German v 

Prussia 

Hungary 

Ireland." 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Norway. 

Scotland 

Serbia 

Sweden 

Switierland 



Europe. 



Union of South Africa.. 
Cape of Good Hope. 

;al 



Australasia. 



1910 
1910 

mm 



19115 
1911 
1911 

If 

1901 
l '.ii ii i 
1910 
1910 
1900 
1911 
1901 
1909 
KHU 
1897 
mil 
19(10 
1900 
1895-96" 



Commonwealth of Australia « 1911 

- 'Ulh Wales 

Queensland 

South Australia Id 1 1 

Tasmania 1911 

Victoria 1911 

Western Australia 1911 

New Zealand ' 191 1 



POP! LATION 






10 tO II 



I . U) I" 



90 to 89 

rem ol 






over. 



Ige lit »t 
reported. 



132. 4 

52.7 
73.0 
119.0 
70.6 
60.9 
52.2 



117. 5 

46.3 
92.6 
201.6 



104.9 
141.6 
226. 3 
177. 8 



pi it n kt oi roi m i continued 



100.0 


7.7 


100.0 


2.7 


1(1(1.(1 


» 9. 1 


1(1(1.0 


- 


100.0 


1.1 


hlll.il 


0.8 


1IID.II 


1.4 


100. 


1.4 


100.0 


1.4 


100.0 


O.S 


100. 


0.8 


100. 


1.0 


100. 


0.3 


100.0 




.11 


1.1 


100. 


0.7 


100.0 


1.0 



(i ■: 


a i 


i.i. 


1.8 


) 


,. i 


) 


'0.3 


i n 


2.7 




8.2 


i.i. 


2. 2 


1.7 


2. 9 


1.9 


2.0 


1 R 


2.8 


1 N 


2.4 


2.9 


5. 5 


8.1 


5.1 


0.7 


5. 6 


n N 


0.8 


8. :, 


4.9 


2. 3 


1.9 



11. :( 


84.0 


21.2 


8. i 


l.il 


28. o 


28. i 


82. a 










(•) 


18.2 




ii. i 


8, 2 


II. 1 


19 B 




4.1 


l& 2 




54. 1 


2.0 


11,9 


17.8 




8. 8 


14.1 


16.9 


59. 7 


2. S 


11. 1 


20.5 


87. l 


8. ."> 


14.fi 


25.0 


6L7 


8.4 


13. 8 


24. fi 


58. 9 


0.3 


18.1 


22, 6 


I.i. 6 


2.9 


14.0 


20. 8 




8. G 


20.3 


22. I 


17. 8 


2.8 


13.0 


28. 1 


58. I 


2.8 


19.7 


2(1. 1 


r.». :i 


1.8 


11. i 


20. 2 


55. i 



NUMBER PER 100,000 (JKNERAI. fort I.ATION OF SAME ACE. 



11.3 

ii i 
12.1 
3.7 



6.5 

■=5.3 

3.7 

"12.0 

11.5 

7.1 

» 42. 8 

B.8 

6.4 

3.1 

10.5 



1S.0 
1 v :, 
16.5 
12.7 

(10) 
15.5 
13.7 

» 17.3 

"28.8 
6.2 

'3 29.7 
15.4 
9.3 

( 1>6.7 
19.7 
9.7 
11.9 



=■19.7 


(•) 


21.9 


24.3 


14.8 


44.0 


32.0 


47.5 


32. 7 


45.6 


32.3 


27.9 


22.1 


27.1 


31.8 


42.9 


•o 23. 8 


0°) 


23.0 


25.6 


20.4 


23.7 


<") 


'i 26. 1 


(") 


39.7 


11.0 


18.7 


(13) 


" 50. 2 


22.2 


23.7 


27.5 


35.1 


» 80. 3 


C 1 ) 


23.5 


29.2 


24.7 


32.0 


21.9 


27.6 


18.6 


24.4 


87.0 


109.6 


62.9 


77.3 


' 134. 7 


* 175. 1 


6 82.9 


( 5 ) 


25.3 


34.5 


31.5 


47.6 


14.0 


16.9 


25.3 


29.1 


24.5 


28.9 


20.3 


24.1 


15.3 


20. 7 


33.6 


37. 8 


46.2 


23.3 


40.5 


25.4 


7. 1 


22.9 


29.9 


17.7 


9.8 


:<, 



63.0 
29.9 

»44.5 
62.6 
27.4 
34.9 
30.6 

H 46.9 
5S. 4 
36.5 

(13) 

23.8 
37. 9 
124.0 

42.3 
60.2 
46.2 
38.5 



li0.5 
101.7 
1 193. 8 

105.9 



49.1 
63.8 
34.4 
44.8 





306.3 

i.-.i 2 

798 

2,021.2 

929. 3 

» 523. 8 
746. 9 
325.1 
346.8 
293.3 

u 376.8 
646. i 
491.0 
"1,162.1 
246.5 
514. 2 

1,296.7 
362." 2 
1009.6 
267. 8 
383.5 

316.2 

876.0 

> 1,606. 8 

1,208.0 

1,293.1 
1,256.9 
1,019. fi 

1,107.2 
1,725.2 

562.3 
524.9 
174.8 
664. 1 
572.2 

533.7 




















75.0 
» 117.9 






52.7 
















I 158. 9 
248.8 


182.2 

1 13. 5 


182.0 


82. 7 


95.5 











1 In calculating these percentages, persons whose age was not reported have been excluded from the total, 

» Civilized population. 

1 Figures given are for age groups "under 10," " 10 to 14," " 15 to 24," " 25 to 44," " 45 to 64," and "6fi or over." respectively. 

* Caucasus, Siberia, and Central 

» Figures given are for age groups " under 10" and " 10 to 19," respectively. 

• Exclusive of full-blooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Federal Capital Territory. 
» Exclusive of Maoris and of population of annexed Pacific Islands, 

» Exclusi\ eof Faroe Islands. 

» Figures given are for age groups "20 to 44," " 4.1 to 64." and " 66 or over," respectively. 

'• Figures given are approximately for age groups " under 10" and " 10 to 19." respeoi Ively. 

" Figure^ given are approximately for age group- "5 to 14," "15 to 29," " 30 to 49," "50 to 69," and " 70 or over," respectively. 

" Figures given are for age groups ■• under fl " an I livclv. 

" Figures given are approximately for age groups" under 6," • i, to 11." "161 and 'J70orover," re pectlvely. 

I'ling Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 
i» Pig ■ ■ pnlation used in computing ratios relate to 188! 

'• In computing the ratios for the several a/' far whom HO returns as to infirmities were secured Were DOl deducted from the "Hal population, SI in 

computing the other ratios given for India, because their age disiribution is not shown in the census report . 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



The following table shows, for the latest year for 
which figures are available, the median age of the 



blind population in those countries for which figures 
are given in Table 1 1 . 



Median age 

of blind 
population.i 



COUNTRY. 



Median age 

of blind 
population. 1 



Canada 

United States: 

Continental United States. 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 



Denmark 2 

England and Wales. 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Prussia 

Saxony 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Russia(European)3. 

Scotland 

Serbia 

Sweden 

Switzerland 



1905 
1911 
1911 
1900 
1901 
1900 
1910 
1910 
1900 
1911 
1901 
1909 
1910 
1897 
1911 
1900 
1900 
1895-96 



oil. 2 
.39.1 
69.4 
59.4 
58.3 



Asia. 

C ey Ion 

India 

Philippine Islands * 

Russia (Asiatic) 5 

Africa. 

Union of South Africa 

Cape of Good Hope 

Natal 

Orange Free State 

Transvaal 

Australasia 

Commonwealth of Australia 6 

New South Wales 

Queensland 

South Australia 

Tasmania 

Victoria 

Western Australia 

New 



1HII1 
1911 
1903 

1S97 



27.1 
47.1 

42.4 



55.8 
64.4 

57.5 



1 Based upon the population whose age was re 

2 Exclusive of Faroe Islands. 

s Including Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 
4 Civilized population. 



General Table 3 (p. 43) shows the age distribution 
of the blind population of the different geographic 
divisions and states. Table 13 shows, for each divi- 



6 Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. 

6 Exclusive of full-blooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Fed- 
eral Capital Territory. 

7 Exclusive of Maoris and of population of annexed Pacific islands. 

sion, the per cent distribution, by age, of the blind 
population, a somewhat broader grouping being em- 
ployed than that used in General Table 3. 



AGE GROUP. 



PER CENT DISTRIBUTION OF BLIND POPULATION: 1910. 1 



East 
North 
Central 
division. 



West 
North 
Central 
division. 



East 
South 
Central 
division. 



West 
South 
Central 
division. 



Moun- 
tain 
division. 



Total. 



Under 10 years 

Under 5 years. 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 19 years 

10 to 14 years.. 

15 to 19 years.. 

20 to 29 years 

30 to 39 years 

40 to 49 years 

50 to 59 years 

60 to 69 vears 

70 to 79 years 

80 years or over 



12.8 
13.2 
17.6 
17.9 
15.6 



1 Based upon the populatii 

The differences between the respective divisions in 
regard to the age distribution of the blind population 
are determined largely by the differences in the corre- 
sponding distribution of the total population. Thus 
the proportion of blind children is largest in the three 
southern divisions, which are also the divisions show- 
ing the largest proportion of children in the general 
population. Similarly, the proportion of old people 
in the blind population is highest in New England, 
which is the division having the highest proportion 
of old people in its general population. Other causes, 
however, enter in, among which may be mentioned 
differences in the relative importance of the various 
race and nativity classes, which differ more or less 
in respect to prevalence of blindness, and the exist- 



>n whose age was reported. 

ence of trachoma, a cause of blindness which occurs 
at all ages, as endemic in certain sections of the 
country. 

In five of the nine divisions more than half of the 
blind population were 60 years of age or over in 1910, 
the exceptions being the three southern and the Moun- 
tain divisions. The highest percentage (55.3) occurred 
in the New England division, and the lowest (44.5) 
in the South Atlantic division. In four divisions the 
proportion under 20 years of age exceeded 10 per cent, 
these being the same divisions as those in which the 
proportion 60 years of age or over fell below 50 per 
cent; the percentage under 20 was highest (13.9) in 
the South Atlantic division, while it was lowest (8) in 
the West North Central. 






\t;i 



21 



Table 11 shows, for each geographic division, the 
Dumber of blind persons in 1910 per 100,000 of the 
general population of the same age. 

The importance o( trachoma as a cause of blindness 
is broughi out clearly by the fact that for L2 of the 
19 age groups into which the population whoso ago 
was reported is divided, including all the groups com- 
prising persons from .o to 59 years of age, the highest 

ratio of blind to total population is shown for the 
South Centra] division, in certain areas of which 
trachoma is widely prevalent, while for five groups 
the highest ratio is shown for the Mountain division, 
where trachoma is endemic to a considerable extent 
among the Indians on the reservations. In general, 
the number of blind persons per 100,000 of the gen- 
eral population of the same age tends to increase 
with each succeeding age group. In the Pacific divi- 
sion, however, the ratio, after increasing regularly up 
to the age group "15 to L9 years." decreases in the 



nexl two age groups, after which it begins once more 

lo increase, the regularity of the increase in tins case 
being unbroken until the final age group is reached. 
'The explanation for thi^ \arialion from the general 
rule is probably to lie found in the large Chinese and 

Japanese population of this division, from which only 
an insignificant number of blind persons were re- 
ported, together with the relatival} huge number of 
recent immigrants, these two elements of the popu- 
lation being concentrated mainbj in the carls and 
middle years of adult life, and thereby counteracting 
temporarily the normal tendency for the relative fre- 
quency of blindness to increase with the successive age 
groups. Somewhat similar, though less pronounced, 
variations from the rule occur in the New England, 
Middle Atlantic, and Mountain divisions, probably by 
reason of the large number of young immigrants, who 

Constitute a selected class so far as physical defects 
are concerned, in the population of these division-. 



Table 11 



AGE GROUP. 



Potal. 



Under 5 years 

Under 1 year. 
1 to 4 years . . . 

5 to 9 v, 

10 to 14 

15 to 19 

•ITS 

■ <'.irs 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 4'' 

•Mrs 

•\irs 

r over. . . 



HUM) Porn.moN E'l.ll UMl.lHllI '.] NKRAL POPULATION OK SAME AGE: 1910. 



5.2 
3.2 
5.7 

12.8 
21.9 

21.3 



39.6 

53.2 
74.4 
96.1 
132. 6 
197.7 



New 
England 
.li\ ision. 



15.7 

23. 8 

22. 3 
21.5 
18. i 
24.7 
29.3 
42.7 
57.5 
81.5 
105. 1 
1S0.0 



Middle 
Atlantic 
di\ ision. 



Hi. 9 
16.1 
16.4 

18. 2 
•22. (I 
30.0 
42.1 
63. 4 

82. 3 
112.7 
176.9 
209. 9 



East 
North 

Central 
di\ ision. 



2.8 
."..7 
12.1 
19.9 
22.3 

22. 6 
25.3 
32.7 
38.0 
51.8 

68. 7 
91.9 

123.8 
193. 2 



it*;, i 

722. 9 
.192..-) 



West 

North 
Central 

di\ ision 



88.8 
123.2 
167. 3 

'270. 2 

397. i 
726. 9 

.213.6 



South 

Atlantic 
division. 



91.9 
115.2 
163. 7 
209.6 
331.7 
543.3 
888.3 
1,542.1 

3.1-9. - 



East 
South 
Central 
division. 



111.7 
1 III. - 
187.9 
271.7 
1 55. i 
699. 
1 . I 72. - 
2,010.1 
■- 



South 

Central 
di\ i-ion. 



L6 

3.5 
4.9 
12.0 
23. 3 
29.4 
32. n 

40.9 
51.6 
61.7 

ion. 2 

11S.II 

171.2 
257. 2 
406. it 

.O. r A I 
.797.0 



Moun- 
tain 
di\ ision. 



6.2 
6.3 
6.2 
13.9 
28.0 
28. l 
27. I 
27. 3 
81. I 
39. 5 
56. i 
7-. I 
97. 3 
166.7 
275. i 
118.0 
779.1, 
1,132.9 

1,686. I 



8.7 

17.4 
24.7 
17.3 
14.5 
19. I 
21.6 



93.1 
142.4 
243.8 

3Z1.0 



Table l"> shows the per cent distribution, by broad 

ips. of the male and female blind population 
in L910, in comparison with that of the general popu- 
lation. The absolute numbers upon which the per- 

- for the blind population are based are given 
in General Table 3 (p. 43). 



AGE GROUP. 



Mate. Female. 



Total. 



Under 10 years 

5 to 9 
10 to 19 : ■ 

I i years. 
19 vears. 

30 to 39 vears 

40 to 49 "years 

60 to 69 years 

«ir* 

SO years or over.. . 



II.- 
10.8 
2a 3 
in. 1 
10.2 

1-9 

14.2 

10. .' 
6.9 



11.7 
I6.fi 

19 II 
1-. 1 



;*>n the population whose age was reported. 



In view of the fact that blindness among the male 
population occurs frequently as a result of industrial 
accidents, which are unimportant as a cause of blind- 
ness among the female population, the male blind 
population would naturally be expected to show a 
much less marked concentration in the later age 
groups than the female population, and the table 
shows that this is iii fact the case. Of the total male 
blind population reported in L910 only 16.3 per cent 
were (ii) years of age or over, while in the case of the 
female blind population the percentage was 53. 6. On 
the other hand, the blind males include a much larger 
number, relatively, of persons in the early or middle 
years of adult life than do the blind females, -4:'>.(> per 
cent, or more than two-fifths, of the blind males being 
from 20 to ■">!• years of age, as compared with only 35.5 
per cent, or somewhat more than one-third, of the 
female blind. The proportion of young persons under 
20 years of age shows comparatively little difference 
for the two sexes, the percentage being 10.2 for males 

and L0.9 for females. As a result of these differences 
in age distribution, the median age of the female blind 



22 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



population is 5 years greater than that of the male 
blind population, the former being 62.3 years and the 
latter 57.3 years. 

Table 16 shows, by 5-year age groups, the number of 
blind persons per 100,000 of the general population 
of the same age and sex, and also the number of males 
per 100 females in each age group for both the general 
and the blind population. 



Table 16 



AGE GROUP. 



Total 



Under 5 years 

Under 1 year . 
1 to 4 years . . 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over . . 



Number per 100,000 
general popula- 
tion of same age 
and sex. 



Excess 
of male 
ratio 
over 
female 
ratio. 1 



Males 
per 100 
females. 



12.3 
17.0 
23.3 

32. 2 
27.9 
38.9 
37.5 
75.2 
64. 9 



116.7 
124.6 
124.0 



177.8 
158.5 
154.5 



117.2 
118.0 
97.3 



Males 
per 100 
females 
in the 
general 
popula- 
tion. 



102.3 
107.8 
110.3 
111.2 
112.6 
113.8 
117.8 
114.6 



101.7 
9L5 



i A minus sign (— ) indicates an excess of the female ratio over the male ratio. 
2 Katio not shown where number of females is less than 100. 

In practically every age group the ratio of blind to 
total population for the males exceeds that for the 
females, the exceptions, the groups comprising infants 
under 1 year of age and persons 85 years of age or 
over, being unimportant by reason of the uncertain 
accuracy of the figures in the first instance and the 
insignificant amount of the difference, when taken in 
conjunction with the magnitude of the ratios, in the 
second. So far as the years of adult life are con- 
cerned, the greater male ratios of course reflect the 
fact that the risk of blindness from industrial accident 
is confined mainly to the male sex; but even in child- 
hood it is probable that the risk of blindness from 
injury is somewhat greater for males than for females, 
by reason of the more active and adventurous char- 
acter of their amusements and the fact that child 
labor is more frequent in the case of boys than in 
that of girls. 

As is the case when the blind population is consid- 
ered as a whole, so when the two sexes are considered 
separately, the ratio of blind to total population in- 
creases with each succeeding age group. The rate of 
increase, however, is by no means uniform for the two 
sexes. During the earlier years of life, up to the age 
of 25, the increase, while slightly more rapid for males, 
is comparatively slow for both sexes, the excess of the 
male over the female ratio in the age group " 20 to 24 



years" being only 5.7 per 100,000. Beginning with 
the age of 25, however, the special risk of blindness 
from industrial accident which exists in the case of 
the male population begins to operate strongly, and 
the male ratio commences to increase rapidly; the 
female ratio, on the other hand, continues to increase 
at a relatively slow rate until the age of 40, after which, 
by reason of the increased incidence of blindness from 
affections of the eye more commonly occurring in later 
life, the rate of increase is considerably accelerated, 
although still somewhat less than that among the males. 
During the later years of life, beginning with the age of 
70, when males engaged in occupations involving a 
special risk of blindness have ordinarily retired from 
active employment, the female ratio shows the more 
rapid increase, until in the final age group the ratios 
for the two sexes are approximately the same. 

The excess of males over females which exists in the 
blind population as a whole is found also in every age 
group for which the sex ratio is shown except the two 
comprising persons of 80 or over. For the age groups 
comprising persons under 25 years of age the excess is 
on the whole fairly uniform; after that age, however, it 
begins to increase, until the ratio reaches its maximum 
(177.8 males to each 100 females) in the age group " 45 
to 49 years." After 50 years of age the ratio shows a 
general tendency to decrease, the last two age groups, 
as already noted, showing an excess of females, mainly 
by reason of the fact that there is an excess of females 
in the general population in these two age groups. 

Table 17 shows, by 5-year age groups, for the differ- 
ent geographic divisions, the number of blind persons 
per 100,000 of the general population of the same age 
and sex. 

As in the United States as a whole, so in each geo- 
graphic division, the difference between the male and 
female ratios of blind to total population is, in general, 
greatest in the middle age groups, being comparatively 
small in childhood and infancy and tending to dis- 
appear in the latest age groups. The differences exist- 
ing between the respective divisions in regard to the 
increase in the ratio when the blind population is 
considered as a whole also appear, as a rule, when the 
two sexes are considered separately. It should be 
noted, however, that in the divisions where the pres- 
ence of a considerable and relatively young foreign- 
born element in the population interrupts the regu- 
larity of the increase in the ratios, a phenomenon to 
which attention has already been called (p. 21), the 
interruption is usually more pronounced in the case of 
females than in that of males. Probably this is be- 
cause the normally more rapid increase in the male 
ratio resulting from the greater risk of blindness from 
injury tends to counteract in whole or in part the re- 
tarding influence which the presence of an element 
which from the physical standpoint constitutes a se- 
lected class would ordinarily exercise upon the ratio. 



RACE \\1> \ mVITY. 



28 



Tat.l.' 17 


BUND POPULATION ill; 100,000 OBNIRAJ POPULATION OF \mi LOl UTO BE1 1910 


.'IT. 


United Btatee. 


ngland 
.in Islon. 


Middle Ulantie 


irth Central 


w. i North Central 




'• 


Female. 


Kale. 


Female. 




\i tie 


IVm Je. 




Female, 




sa s 


;.-,. r. 


08.2 1 50.7 


57. s 15. 5 


71.2 




68.8 










5.5 

13.0 

M. I 

27. : 

47. 6 
64. 1 

108. 9 

216. 6 

101. ! 

834.6 
1,324.3 
2,545. 1 


4.8 

11.0 

i".r 

26. i 

M. II 

111.8 

17s. 1 

265. I 

697. 3 
1,245.8 


0.8 

7.0 

19. ;. 

26. 1 

85. 1 

10. 

7 '. 6 
97. '-' 
144.0 
212.0 

423. 7 

741. 1 

897.7 

2,047.2 


7.2 

J. '.i 
s. 1 
11.8 

17.11 
15.8 

17.:. 

12.0 

150.0 
211.5 
379. i 

s7s. '.I 

1,938.5 


6.3 

;.. '.i 

18.9 
17.9 

17. 1 

B1.8 
100.5 
143.3 
203. 6 
810.0 
180. ii 
707.8 
1,113.0 
2,038.2 


5.3 
1.2 

5. 8 
in. 
14.8 

11. I 

12. 7 
16.7 
34.5 
39. I 
18. i 
68. ii 
81.2 

151.8 
223. 7 

1,021.6 
1,049.7 


4.4 

.. 

12, 1 

22, s 
34. I 
34. 7 

89. i 

SMI 
102. 5 
140.7 
321.7 

a 17. 7 

i in. ii 

764.0 
1,219.8 
2,168.5 


5.7 

. 1 

12.2 

I7.il 

20.2 

3D. l 

30.2 

25. 7 

39. '.' 

10.8 

50. s 

79. s 

105. n 

162.5 

237.5 

370. 5 

681.0 

1,165.8 

2,282.0 


4.4 

10.8 
16.2 

17.7 
21.0 

14.5 
60.5 

77. 8 
08.0 

179.6 

. 

424.9 

790. 3 

1,810.7 


3.4 




















































1 52. s 










ITS 


1,171.5 
2, 129. 1 








BLIND POPULATION FEB lllll.iKH) GENERAL POPULATION <>K samk AQE AND SEX: 1910, 



Male. Female. 



Male. Female. 



Male. Fein ;!■■. 



Mountain division. 



Male. Female. 



Pacific division. 



Mai Female. 



Total 

l" rider 1 year 

10 to 1 1 
15 to 19 

30 to n i 

35 to 30 vears . . . 

- 
• ' .>ar? . . . 

.VI to"! 

' years . . . 
60 to 6 1 
65 to 69: 
70 to 74 years ... 
75 to 79 

.r over . 



2.3 

7. 1 
1(5.2 
33.5 
35.9 
40.0 
48.5 
51.0 
66.9 
85.7 
109.4 
129.6 
174.6 
230.2 
345.4 
556.8 
935.5 
1,461.4 
J, 77::. 2 



3.5 
4.9 
13.9 
25.8 
28.6 
26.1 
32.3 
35.0 
41.1 
47.9 
71.1 
98.5 
151.2 
187.0 
317.5 
530.3 
845.1 
1,609.2 
3.506.3 



1.50. S 
191.3 
246.0 
4H3.9 
701.3 
1,246.0 

2, 063. 4 



17.0 
28.4 
33.3 
35.5 
35.8 
48.7 
45.6 
69.4 

128! 7 
183.0 
300.6 

423.7 

1,096] 8 
1.(161.3 
3,872.5 



5.4 

4.6 

5.6 

12.3 

23.9 

33.9 

34. 3 

42.9 

49.7 

62.7 

73.2 

108.0 

124 7 

159. 3 

250.0 

3J.i. ii 

703. 

1,137.9 

1,77s. 5 

3,267.4 



22.8 
24.8 
29.7 
33.9 
31.3 

MS. S 
IS. 3 
90.0 
109.1 

IMi.'.l 

266.6 
413.7 
692. 3 
952. 7 
1,815.0 
3, MX). 9 



263. 1 
112.1 

77.",. '.i 
. 2s.->. 2 



7.4 
25.6 
23.8 
30.5 
27.7 
25.0 
26.0 
19.2 
52.4 
101.6 
130. 2 
294.1 
426. 1 
7K4. 7 



21.4 


13.2 


26.9 


22.3 


18.9 


15.3 


17.5 


10.0 


21.9 


1.1.7 


26.0 


15. 1 


46. 1 


2s. 3 


71.0 


35. 9 


90.2 


36.9 


101.9 


80.2 


177.0 


91.6 


309. 6 


155.6 


374.7 


253.0 


637.6 


523. 9 


239. 7 


S80.6 


302.9 


2,321.8 



RACE AND NATIVITY. 

Table is shows the distribution of the blind popu- 
lation by race and nativity in 1910, in comparison 
with that of the total population, and also the ratio 
of blind to total population for each race and na- 
tivity class. 

Both the colored and the foreign-born whites form 
a somewhat larger percentage of the blind population 
than of the general population, while the native 
whites, on the- Other hand, represent less than two- 
thirds 0").7 per cent) of the blind population, as coin- 
pared with nearly three-fourths (74.4 per cent I of the 
general population. These differences, <>f course, re- 
sult from differences in the relative frequency of blind- 
ness in the several classes, a^ indicated by the last 
column of the table, which shows the number of blind 
per 1.00,000 of the general population of the same race 
and nativity. The remarkably high ratio shown for 
the Indians is due mainly ti» the prevalence of tra- 
choma among the Indians on the reservations of the 



far West, while the high ratio for the negroes may 
perhaps be explained to some extent by the fact that 
the negro population is largely illiterate and resident 
in rural districts, where medical facilities are poor, so 
that eye diseases having blindness as a possible conse- 
quence are probably allowed to run their course un- 
molested to a much greater extent relatively in this 
class of the population than among the whites. In 
the case of the foreign-born whites, the high propor- 
tion of adults who have arrived at the age when the 
incidence of blindness is greatest, and also the consid- 
erable excess of males, are the factors chiefly responsi- 
ble for the high ratio shown for this class as com- 
pared with the native whites. 

The blind population included under " Chinese, Japa- 
tnd all other" comprises 24 Chinese, 1 Japanese, 
and 9 of miscellaneous races. The ratio of blind to 
total population among the Chinese alone was .!.'!.(> 
per loo. ooo. The small number of blind persons enu- 
merated among the Chinese and Japanese is probably 
due in large part to the fad thai the members of these 



24 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



races in the United States are, as a rule, compara- 
tively young, the proportion who have reached the 
ages "when the incidence of hlindness is greatest being 
relatively low, and also to the fact that they are mainly 
engaged in occupations havhig no particular hazard 
of hlindness, although it also seems probable that the 
enumeration of the blind may be somewhat deficient 
for these two classes of the population. 



Table 18 


POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES: 


1910. 




Total. 




Blind. 




RACE AND NATIVITY. 


Number. 


Per cent 
distribu- 
tion. 


Number. 


Per cent 
distribu- 
tion. 


Number 

per 
100.000 
general 
popula- 
tion of 

same race 
and na- 
tivity. 




91,972,266 


100.0 


57,272 


100.0 


62.3 






White 


81,731,957 


88.9 


47,585 


83.1 


58.2 


Native 


68,386,412 
13,345,545 

10,240,309 


74.4 
14.5 

11.1 


37,646 
9,939 


65.7 
17.4 

16.9 


55.0 


Colored 


*. 


Negro 


9, S27, 7a3 
412,546 
265,083 

146,863 


10.7 
0.4 
0.3 

0.2 


8,849 
838 
804 

34 


15.5 

L4 
0.1 












Chinese, Japanese, 
and all other 


23.2 



As a matter of interest, Table 19 shows the distribu- 
tion by race and nativity of the blind population as 
reported at each census from 1830 to 1910, together 
with the ratio of the reported blind to the total popu- 
lation of the same race and nativity at each census. 
In connection with this table, however, what has al- 
ready been said regarding the incomparability of the 
figures for the different censuses should be borne in 
mind. 



Ta- 


BLIND POPULATION OF THE L'NITED STATES. 


ble 










19 












Total number. 


Number per 100.000 population of 
same race and nativity. 


YEAR. 


All 
class- 


White. 








White. 












Col- 


All 








Col- 






Na- 
tive. 


For- 


ored. 


classes. 




Na- 
tive. 


For- 


ored. 






Total. 


eign- 
bom. 






Total. 


eign- 
born. 




1910... 


57,272 


47,585 


37, 646 


9.939 


9,687 


62.3 


58. 2 


55.0 


74.5 


94.6 


1900... 


64,763 


56,535 


45,841 


10. 694 






S4.6 


81. C 


104.7| 89.6 


1890... 


50. 568 


43, 351 


34,205 


9.146 


7.217 


80.8 


78.7 


74.4 


100.3! 92.0 


1880... 


18,928 


41.27S 


33,051 


8.227 


7.650 


97. 7 


95.1 


89.7 


125.4 113.3 


1870... 


20,320 


16,966 


13.7.5S 


3.208 


3.354 


.52.7 


VX 5 


49. C 


58.4; 67.5 


I860... 


12, 658 


10. 729 


8,95S 


1,77C 


1,929 


40.3 


39.9 


39.2 


43. 2 42. 7 


1850... 


9.794 


7.97S 


7.186 


792 


1,816 


42.2 


40.8 


41.5 


35. 3 49. 9 


1840... 


6,932 5.030 
5,444 3,974 


(') 


(') 


1,902 


10.6 


35.4 


(') 


(') : 66.2 


1830... 


(') 


(') 


1,470 


42.3 


37.7 


0) 


(') 63.1 



Not reported separately. 



The fact that the reported colored blind population 
was larger in 1910 than in 1900, a gain which was 
accompanied by an increase in the ratio per 100,000 
of the general population of the same races, while 
all other race and nativity classes show apparent de- 



creases, tends to suggest that as far as this element is 
concerned the returns for 1910 were more complete 
than those for 1900, as it is extremely improbable that 
there was any such increase in the frequency of blind- 
ness among the colored as the figures would seem to 
indicate. It is probable, indeed, that a very large 
proportion of the 19,884 persons already referred to 
as having been ultimately excluded from the report 
for 1900 by reason of failure to return the personal 
schedule represented negroes and Indians too ignorant 
or illiterate to answer the questions on the schedule, 
the exclusion referred to affecting these classes to a 
greater extent than any other. 1 It is also probable 
that relatively more foreign-born whites than native 
whites were excluded for the same reason, a circum- 
stance which would in some degree account for the 
much smaller decrease in number shown for the former 
class at the census of 1910; but another factor which 
would go far toward explaining this is the relatively 
large increase in the total foreign-born white popula- 
tion during the interval between 1900 and 1910, this 
increase amounting to 30.7 per cent, as compared with 
a corresponding increase of 20.8 per cent for the native 
white population. 

General Table 1 (p. 41) shows, for each geographic 
division and state, the distribution of the blind popula- 
tion by race and nativity. Table 20 shows, for each 
geographic division, the ratio of blind to total popula- 
tion for each race and nativity class. In any con- 
sideration of this and similar tables, however, it should 
be borne in mind that by reason of the relatively small 
number involved in some cases, particularly in the 
case of the classes included under the heading of ''All 
other," the magnitude of the ratios may to a certain 
extent be determined by more or less accidental 
factors. 



Table 20 


BLIND POPULATION PER 100.000 GENERAL POPULA- 
TION OF SAME RACE AND NATIVITY: 1910. 


DIVISION. 


- 

classes. 


White. 


Negro. 






Total. 


Native. 


For- 
eign- 
born. 


All 

other. 




62.3 


58.2 


55.0 


74.5 


90.0 








New England 

Middle Atlantic 


62.4 
51.8 
64.3 
57.4 
67.9 
83.5 
64.0 
67.9 
49.3 


62.0 
50.9 
62.9 
54.9 
59. S 
77.9 
57.6 
56. 9 
45.9 


60.2 
48.2 
57.6 
48.5 
59.3 
76.5 
53.8 
53.3 
40.6 


66.7 
58.7 
88.6 

70!9 
165. S 
126.2 
73.9 
65.4 


99.5 
91.4 
133.6 
133.5 
83.7 
95.5 
83.1 
79.2 
113.0 


9l!l 































Of the various factors which determine the ratios, 
that of age is unquestionably the most important. 
Thus the high ratios for the foreign-born whites in 
the East South Central and the East and West North 

1 Iu 1910, of the total colored blind population, 60.1 per cent 
failed to return the special schedule, as compared with 50.G per 
cent of the foreign-born white and 45.6 per cent of the native white. 



RACE AND NATIVITY 



25 



Central divisions resull mainly from the fact thai the 
foreign-born white population of these divisions is 
made np to ;i much greater extent of the earlier 
immigrants, who have reached the age when the inci- 
dence of blindness is greatest, than is the case else- 
where, the proportion of the total foreign-born white 
population in these divisions which was 65 years of 
age or over in L910 being 17.'.). 11.7, and 13.4 p r 
cent, respectively, as compared with corresponding 
percentages of only 6.6 and 6.4 for the New England 
and Middle Atlantic divisions. Similarly, the high 
ratios for the negroes in the two North Central divi- 
sions reflect tin- fact that there i> an exceptionally 
Urge proportion of old people in the negro population 
of these divisions, while a similar explanation accounts 
for the circumstance that New England shows the second 
highest ratio for the native whites, although ranking 
only sixth in this respect for all classes taken together. 
On the other hand, the high ratio for the native whites 
in the East South Central division results mainly from 
the prevalence of trachoma in certain sections of that 
division, ami the high ratio for the foreign-horn 
whites in the West South Central division is probably 
to he accounted for by the fact that in this division 
the foreign-horn population consists largely of Mexi- 
can-, among whom blindness appears to be somewhat 
more prevalent generally than is the case with other 
nationalities. 

When the respective geographic divisions are con- 
sidered individually, they show much the same ten- 
dency in regard to the relative frequency of blindness 
among the several classes of the population as does 
the country as a whole. In general, the ratio of blind 
to total population is highest in that part of the 
population included under the heading of "All other;'' 
the ratio for the negroes is higher than that for either 
class of the white population; and the ratio for the 
foreign-born whites exceeds that for the native whites. 
The manner in which these differences between the 
respective classes affect the distribution of the blind 
population is brought out by Table 21, which shows, 
for each geographic division, the percentage of the 
blind population represented by each race and nativ- 
ity class, in comparison with the corresponding distri- 
bution of the total population. 

In every division negroes represent a larger propor- 
tion of the blind than of the total population, the 
difference being especially marked in the three southern 
division-, which contain approximately nine-tenths of 
the negro population of the United State-. Foreign- 
born white- al-o contribute a larger proportion of the 
blind than of the total population in each division, 
the widest variation relatively occurring in the two 
North Central divisions, in which, as already noted, 
the proportion of older immigrants among the foreign- 
born white population is particularly high. Perhaps 
the most Striking contrast shown for any race and 
nativity class, however, i- that in the case of the per- 
93320°— 15 1 



centages for the classes included under the heading of 
"All other.'' for the Mountain and Pacific divisions, 

these elements of the population contributing 18.8 

and '.» per cent, respectively, of the Mind population 
of these divisions, as compared with :;.."> and :;.;; per 
cent of their total population; the difference would 

be even more marked were the Indian population 
alone to he considered. 



r.ii.i. ,■ i 


PER CEN 1 


UlVIMiiN LND . LASS "> 

POF1 i \ BOM 


White. 


Negro. 


All 




Total. 




bom. 


United States: 

Total population... 
Blind population . 


v; l 


74.4 
65.7 


ii.:. 

17.4 


10.7 

is. a 


0.4 
1.5 


Now England: 

Total population 

Blind population 

Middle Atlantic: 

Total population 

Blind population 

East North Central: 

Total population 

liliud population 

West North Central: 

Total population 

Wind population 

South Atlantic- 
Total population 

Blind population 

Kast South Central: 

Total population 

Blind population 

West South Central: 

Total population 

Blind population 

Mountain: 

Total population 

Blind population 

Pacific: 

Total population 

Blind population 


98.9 
98. 8 

97.7 
96.0 

98.2 
96.2 

97.5 
93.2 

66.2 

5S.3 

68.4 
63.8 

76.5 
68.9 

95.7 
80.2 

96.0 
89.4 


*71.2 

68.7 

72.8 

67.7 

81.4 
78.0 

83.7 
70.8 

63.8 
55.8 

67.4 
61.8 

72.5 
61.0 

79.1 
62. 2 

75. t 
62.1 


27. 7 
29.6 

25.0 

28. 8 

16.8 

23.2 

13.9 
22.5 

2 I 
2.5 

1.0 
2.1 

4.0 

7.8 

16.6 
18.1 

20.5 
27.3 


1.0 

1.1. 

2.2 
3.8 

i.e. 

3.4 

2.1 
4.9 

33.7 
11. 6 

31.5 
36.1 

22.6 
29.3 

0.8 
1.0 

0.7 
1.8 


0.1 

0.1 

0.1 

0.2 

0.1 
0.4 

0.4 

i.y 

0.1 

0.2 

0.1 

0.9 
1.8 

3.5 
If. 8 

3.3 

(1. 



' Less than one-tenth of 1 per cent. 

Table 22 shows the per cent distribution, by geo- 
graphic divisions, of the blind population in each race 
and nativity class, in comparison with that of the 
total population. 



Table 22 


PER CENT DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION: 


1910. 


DIVISION. 


All 

classes. 


White. 


Negro. 


An- 
other. 




Total. 


Native. F S- 




TOTAL POPULATION. 




100.0 


100.0 


100.0 | 100.0 


100.0 










7.1 
21.0 

lit s 

12.7 
13.3 
9.1 
9.6 
2.9 
4.6 


7.9 
23.1 
21.9 
13,9 
9.9 
7.0 
8.2 
3.1 
4.9 


6.8 
20.6 
21.7 
14.2 
11. 1 
8.3 
9.3 

4.6 


13.6 
36.2 
23.0 
12.1 
2.2 
0.7 

3. 3 
6.5 


0.7 
4.3 
3.1 
2.5 
ii 8 
27.0 
20.2 
0.2 
0.3 




Middle Atlantic 


4.3 












0".7 












33.8 








BLIND POPULATION. 




1..I II 


100.0 


inn ii 


100.0 


100.0 










: i 
17.5 
20.5 

11.7 

11 6 

12 ■ 

8.1 


V 1 

20 2 
28 7 

l.i l 
10 l 

8.1 

:: 


7.5 
18.0 
22 ' 
12.8 
12 8 
11.') 
9.1 
3.0 
3.4 


12.2 
28.5 

15 l 

2 1 
1.4 
4.4 

3.2 

.-,.7 


0.7 
4.3 

3.7 

Is . 
2 
0.4 









































•26 



THE BLIXD IX THE EXITED STATES. 



Perhaps the most striking fact brought out by this 
table is the much smaller proportion of the blind than 
of the total foreign-born white population reported. 
from the Middle Atlantic division, this division con- 
tributing 36.2 per cent of the total foreign-born white 
population of the country but only 28.5 per cent of 
the blind population of this class. This is, of course, 
explained by the fact that the foreign-born whites in 
this division comprise a relatively high proportion of 
the younger and more recent immigrants, who have 
not yet reached the ages when blindness is most com- 
monly found. The distribution of the native white 
blind population shows on the whole a fairly close cor- 
respondence to that of the total population of this 
race and nativity; the most marked variation occurs 
in the East South Central division, and is due to local 
conditions already referred to. The variations be- 
tween the two sets of percentages for the negroes 
probably reflect in the main variations in the age dis- 
tribution of this class of the population. In the case 
of the population included under the heading of "All 
other/' the differences are due to a considerable ex- 
tent to differences in the relative importance in the 
general population of the Chinese and Japanese ele- 
ments, which make only an insignificant contribution 
to the total blind population, this being conspicuously 
the case with respect to the Pacific division. Another 
important factor, however, is the extent to which 
trachoma, which is the principal cause of blindness 
among the Indian population, is endemic; variations 
in this respect are probably responsible for the differ- 
ences shown in the table for the West Xorth Central, 
West South Central, and Mountain divisions. 

Table 23 shows the distribution, by sex, of the blind 
population in each race and nativity class, together 
with the number of males per 100 females. 



responding in the main to the differences in the 
ratios for the total population of the respective classes. 
Table 24 shows, for each geographic division, the 
ratio of blind to total population for each race and 
nativity class, by sex. 



Table 24 


BLIXD POPULATION PEE 100.000 GENEBAL POPULA- 
TlOir OF SAME EACE, XATrVITT, AND SEX: 1910. 


DIVISION-. 


All 
classes. 


White. 


Negro. 


All 
other. 




Total. 


Native. 


Foreign- 
born. 








MALE. 







United States. 

New England 

Middle Atlantic 

East North Central. 
West North Central. 

South Atlantic 

East South Central. . 
West South Central. 

Mountain 

Pacific 



United States. 



Table 23 


BLIND POPULATION' OP THE UNITED 
SIATES: 1910. 


EACE AND NATTVTrv. 


Total. 


Male. 


Female. 


Males 
per 100 
females. 




57,272 


32,443 


24,829 


130.7 




White 


47,585 


26,994 


20,591 


131. 1 




37,646 
9,939 


21,179 
5,815 

5,449 


16,467 
4,124 

4,238 


128.6 
• 141.0 

128.6 




Colored 


Negro 


8,849 
838 


4,971 
478 


3,878 
360 


128.2 
132.8 





For the country as a whole the excess of males is 
greatest among the foreign-born whites, followed by. 
the '"Other colored." the native whites, and the negroes 
in the order named, the differences in the ratios cor- 



New England 

Middle Atlantic 

East North Central. . 
West North Central. 

South Atlantic 

East South Central.. 
West South Central. 

Mountain 

Pacific 



56.7 

>,S. 7 
61. 
64. 1 
81.8 
60. 7 
63.5 
56.0 




82.4 
112.5 
152.1 
158.9 



42.3 
52.0 
188.7 
290.0 
112.6 
22.5.4 
136.2 
367.8 
100.8 



4S.2 
55.3 
73.8 
54.2 
48.5 



48.8 


70.8 


53.7 


62.2 


40.9 


57.6 


50.3 


85.8 


42.7 


86.8 


55.0 


65.4 


72.7 


157.0 


50.8 


124.6 


43.5 


80.2 


29.2 


52.4 



116.3 
71.4 
113.6 
106.2 

82^5 
71.9 
72.2 



In every division and for both males and females 
separately the order of the different race and nativity 
classes in respect to the ratio of blind to total popula- 
tion is practically the same as for the United States 
as a whole and for both sexes combined. In the great 
majority of instances, also, the ratio for males is higher 
than that for females;, the classes included under the 
heading of "All other," however, constitute a striking 
exception to this rule, the ratio for females being 
higher than that for males in the United States as a 
whole and in six of the nine divisions. This exception 
results mainly from the very considerable excess of 
males among the Chinese and Japanese, who are in- 
cluded under this heading and among whom, largely 
by reason of the relatively small number who have 
reached the age when the incidence of blindness is 
greatest, the number of blind persons is, as already 
pointed out, very small. 

RACE, NATIVITY, AND AGE. 

General Table 4 (p. 46) shows, for each geographic 
division, the age distribution of each race and nativity 
class in the blind population. Table 25 shows, for 
the United States as a whole, the per cent distribu- 
tion, by age, for each class. 



i; \< i ■:. NATIVITY, \.\i) \(.i:. 



i ..i.i. : . 


1 MI! D -I VTI - 1010 


BOOT 






While 






Ml 

othar. 








bora. 




too. 

.i 1 

l 

: B 

- 

• 

i- g 
H a 


100.0 


100.0 


100 


100 ii 


100 








8.3 
1.0 
2.3 
7.4 

8. B 

:.:. 

8.1 

13.0 
17.2 
18.6 
14.4 


4.1 

B i 
i i 
4.7 

B 
in g 
ta o 

1S.1 

10.4 
12. v 


ii i 
l 

II. 1 

0.8 

•J. 7 
I.i. 

I ; i 

21. 1 

27. 2 
20.6 


2.5 

i B 
7.5 
3. 4 
1.1 
10.2 
in i 
Hi. 

ii S 

no 


2. 8 


I Oder 


1.0 

i a 






10 '■< li 

i:.*.> 19 vears 


2, l 
2. B 

.'..ii 


rears 


10 v 




11. 1 




(S I 




16 7 











' Baaed ui>on the population whose age was reported. 

The individual race and nativity classes show wide 
differences in regard to the age distribution of the blind 
population, resulting mainly from differences in the age 
distribution of the general population of the respective 
classes. Thus persons 60 years of ago or over con- 
stituted more than two-thirds (68.9 per cent) of the 
foreign-born white blind population in 1910 and nearly 
three-fifths (58.7 per cent) of the classes included under 
the heading "AH other,' as compared with consid- 
erably less than one-half (45.3 per cent and 4-1.1 per 
cent, respectively) in the ease of the native whites and 
the negroes. While the high proportion for the for- 
eign-born whites is due mainly to the fact that the 
proportion of old people in the general population of 
this class is much higher than it is in the other classes, 
it seems probable that the more or less stringent phys- 
ical examination which immigrants are required to 
undergo is also an important* factor. Nearly three- 
fifths (59.6 per cent) of the foreign-born white blind 
population were 65 years of age or over. The pro- 
portion of persons under 20 years of age was highest 
(13.1 per cent' in the native white population, and 
was also high (10 per cent) among the negro blind; 
among the foreign-born whites, on the other hand, it 
was only 1.3 per cent, while among the "All other" 
class the percentage was 7.0. the extremely low per- 
centage for the former class resulting from the fact 
that the immigrants coming into the country comprise 
comparatively few children. Adults between the ages 
of 20 and 00 were mosl numerous relatively among the 
negroes and native white-, the percentages being 15.6 
and 41.0. respectively; among the "All other'' class 
they represented 33.8 per cent and among the foreign- 
born white- 29.8 pel- cent. 

These differences in the age distribution of the 
respective classes resull in wide differences in the 
median age, a- shown by Table 20. which gives the 
median age of the total and the blind population, 
respectively, in 1910, classified according to race, 
nativitv. and BOX. 



Table 86 


mi DUD m.i Of POP1 i mi..n ■ LT1 101 ' 


BJLI 1 .SI. \ wl\l 




Blind. 




llolli 

sexea. 




! .-mmI.' 


Both 


m lie. 


l .in ,i. 


Ml .1 . 


21.11 
24. 1 


24.6 








i.j. .i 


White. 


60.1 


58.1 








Native 


21.4 

:i7. l 

21.0 


21. 8 
21.8 




50.3 


54.7 




Foreign-bora 










N" o 


20.8 
26. :i 


21.1 




68.7 






IB v 64.7 


■ i 



' Basel upon the popul il Ion h ho e age »:.s reported. 

The median age of the reported blind population of 
both sexes ranges from 55.1 years in the case of I lie 

negroes and 56.3 years in the case of the native whites 
to 64.7 years among the "Other colored" and to 69.1 
years among the foreign-born whites, the difference 
between the median for the negroes and that for the 
foreign-born whites being approximately l l years. 

Table 27 shows for the United States as a whole the 
ratio of blind to total population, by age groups, for 
each race and nativitv class. 



AGE GROUP. 



Total 

Under 5 years... 
Under 1 year 
lto4 years.. 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 1*4 years 

15 to 19 vears — 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 vears.... 
3.5 to 39 years.... 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years.... 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years.... 
60 to 64 vears.... 
65 to 09 years — 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 7'.' 

80toS4 years.... 

S5 years or oyer. 



BLIND POPULATION OF Tin: DOTTED STATES PKR 100,000 
GENERAL POPULATION OF SAME RACK, NATIVITY, AND 
age: 1910. 



5.2 

3.2 

5.7 

12.8 

21.9 

24.3 

24.9 

27.5 

32.9 

39.6 

53.2 

74. I 

98. 1 

132.6 

197.7 

303.8 

158.9 

766. 5 

I 

2.57I.S 



5.2 

3.2 

5.7 

12, 6 

21.2 

22.7 

11. I 

21.3 

29.4 

35.0 

17.9 

07. 1 

86.3 

121.3 

182. 1 

isl. 5 

423.6 

721.8 

1,192.3 



5.7 
12.7 
21.7 
24.2 
25. 3 

Js. U 

84. i 
40.6 
54.4 

7.'.. 3 



1 12. i 

715. I 
1,275.5 
2, 159. 7 



2.4 
5.0 
13. 2 

34.3 
43.2 
52.8 
62.9 
78.3 
101.9 
1 13. o 
194.1 

339.4 
51s. 
B47.8 

1 , K.. S 

3,880.2 



17.7 

10.7 
19.5 

5&8 
69.0 
55.3 
IS.O 
81.5 
87.6 
166.0 
211.5 
237. 1) 
85 ). 5 
071.1 

1,897.6 

•-'.7 is. 7 
1.69L I 

7.097.5 



It is apparent from this table that the considerably 

higher ratio of blind to total population which the for- 
eign-born whites ;is a das-. show when compared with 
the native whites is due solely to the high proportion 

of old persons among the foreign horn, as when the 

comparison is made for the individual age groups the 
higher ratio is invariably thai for the native whites. 
The relatively low ratios for \\w foreign-born whites, 
of course, are due mainly to the fad that under normal 
circumstances the number of blind immigrants will 
alw a\ 9 be \ cry small. At the same t ime the restrictive 
provisions of the immigration law have probably re- 



28 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



suited in making the immigrants entering the country 
a specially selected class so far as the risk of blindness 
is concerned. A particularly important circumstance 
in this connection is the fact that trachoma, one of the 
most serious causes of blindness, has been classified by 
the United States Public Health Service as a danger- 
ous contagious disease, and consequently, under the 
law, is an absolute bar to admission in the case of any 
immigrant afflicted with it. 

In practically every 5-year age group, as well as in 
the general population without distinction of age, the 
highest ratio is shown for the classes included under the 
heading of "All other," and the next highest for the ne- 
groes," the only exceptions being the group comprising 
children under 5 years of age, in which the ratio is 
higher for both the native whites and the foreign- 
born whites than for the negroes, and that com- 
prising persons from 25 to 29 years of age, in which 
the negroes show the highest ratio. In general, 
the ratio increases with each succeeding age group. 
The concentration of the Chinese and Japanese popula- 
tion, among whom very few blind persons were enum- 



erated, in the years of early and middle adult life, 
however, interrupts the regularity of the increase in 
the case of the "All other" class; and among the for- 
eign-born whites the ratios for the age groups compris- 
ing persons of from 15 to 29 years are lower than those 
for the groups between 5 and 14 years — a condition 
which may be due to the fact that the earlier age groups 
of the foreign-born population comprise mainly chil- 
dren brought over to the United States by their parents 
or other relatives, among whom the number already 
afflicted with blindness on entry or likely to go blind 
soon after entry would probably be somewhat greater 
relatively than it would be among adult immigrants, 
most of whom have come to the United States on their 
own initiative. In the case of all four classes for which 
figures are given, the increase in the ratio is relatively 
slow up to the age of 40, after which it proceeds with 
constantly accelerated rapidity. 

Table 28 shows for the native whites, foreign-born 
whites, and negroes in each geographic division the 
ratio of the reported blind to the total population of 
the same race, nativity, and age. 



Table 28.— NATIVE AND FOREIGN-BORN WHITE AND NEGRO BLIND POPULATION, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO 
AGE, PER 100,000 OF THE GENERAL POPULATION OF THE SAME RACE, NATIVITY, AND AGE, BY DIVISIONS: 1910. 



AGE GROrP. 



BLIND POPULATION PER 100,000 GENERAL POPULATION OF SAME RACE. NATIVITY. AND AGE: 



Total. 



Under 5 years 

Under 1 rear . 
1 to 4 years... 

5 to 9 rears 

10tol4 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30to34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to .54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 t o 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80toS4 years 

85 years or over . . 



UNTIED STATES. 



NEW ENGLAND DIVISION. 



21.7 
24.2 
25.3 

Ki 
40.6 

54.4 



46.2 
66.3 
99.2 

14S.0 



52. S 
62.9 

10L9 



Total 

Under 5 years . . . 
Under 1 year 
1 to 4 years.. 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years.... 

15 to 19 vears 

20to24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 t o 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years.... 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 yens or over. . 



31.4 

34! 6 
35.5 
43.9 
52.8 
71.2 
87.2 
130.9 
175.8 



11.1 

2&2 

14.6 
31.0 
72.0 
145.4 
79.0 
179.4 
38*. 3 
566.1 
612.8 
2. 274. 6 



145. 6 

184.8 

254.2 

309. S 

418. 

7*7.4 

1.279.7 

2. ns.;. * 

3, 706. 4 



12.2 
3l! 9 



124.0 
189.0 
253. 2 
460.1 
776.2 
. 097. 3 
. 476. 4 



39.3 
5S.3 
15.0 
3S.3 
15.0 
30.8 
107.1 
162.0 
16-. 5 
248. 
653. 2 
7s5. 9 
313. 
824. 2 
990.1 
,263.2 



lfto!2 
114.9 



241.4 
337.9 

545. 4 



69.6 
84.6 

115.3 



18.5 

25.0 

41.2 

71.2 

71.7 

144.3 

194.9 

370.6 

475.9 

S39.3 

1. 106. 2 

915. 7 

1.209.2 

3.520.0 



76.3 
99.4 

132. 6 
206. 2 
30*. 2 
42-. 9 
7S5.6 
1.315.4 
2, 384. 1 



158! 3 
234.0 



1.040.7 
1.1*5.0 
2.066.1 
4. 125. 



MOUNTAIN DIVISION. 



434. 

736. 

1.375. 



18.6 
19.9 
35.5 
44.8 
53.1 



25.1 
14.8 
26.4 
45.3 
44.7 
76.2 
94.6 
87.9 
167.7 
252.7 
276.3 
522.3 
S12.8 
901.6 
,.566.4 






1.047.? 

1.756. > 
3, 2*5. f 



242.0 
362. S 
815. - 

1.15*. 7 







25.4 




10.4 




19.9 




5.9 




4.2 




10.0 


69.3 


7.4 




18.5 


83.5 


44.7 




46.9 


145.2 


87.8 


311.2 


146.0 


168.9 


161.3 




291.0 





448.7 
S51.6 

1.55*. 7 

2. 106. 2 



793.7 
.219.5 

..510.6 
.. 263. 2 



9.3 
18.1 
26.0 
19.7 
17.2 
19.8 
21.4 
39.0 
56. 
64.3 
104.6 
155. 5 
251.9 
268.2 
45*. 
.018.2 
.417.3 



200.9 
313. S 
642.2 



41.9 
149.6 
143.3 



RACE, NATIVITY, AND AGE 



29 



In general, the differences between the ratios for the 
three classes shown in the table in the individual 
geographic divisions are of much the Bame character 

as those shown for the United States as a whole. 

Some significant variations appear, however; in par- 
ticular, certain exceptions are to be observed to the 
general rule that when the individual age groups are 
considered, the ratio for the native whites will ordi- 
narily exceed thai for the foreign-born whites. Tho 

most important o\ these exceptions are those occur- 
ring m the New Kngland and to a somewhat less ex- 
tent in the Middle Atlantic divisions, where the ratios 
for the foreign-horn whites in the later age groups tend 

to exceed the corresponding ratios for the native whites. 
The reason for this departure from the usual rule is 
not altogether easy to explain, although it is probable 
that the foreign-born population of these divisions are 
engaged in occupations having a special hazard of 
blindness to a much greater extent than is the case 
with the native population, a fact which might even- 
tually counteract the somewhat more favorable con- 
stitution of the former class as regards tendency to 
blindness. Other exceptions to the rule occur in the 
West South Central division, where the ratios in the 
age groups comprising persons under 30 are in general 
higher for the foreign-horn whites, probably as a re- 
sult of the generally high ratio of blindness among the 
Mexicans, who constitute the bulk of the younger 
foreign-born population in this division; and in the 
Pacific division, where the ratios for the age groups be- 
tween 30 and 50 show a remarkably close correspond- 
ence for the two classes, probably by reason of the fact 
that the native white population in these ago groups 
consists largely of migrant s from otherstates, and, there- 
fore, like the foreign-born population, to all intents and 
purposes constitutes a specially selected class. 



In all the di\ i^ions ihc ml LOS for I lie negroes are, as 
a rule, higher than the corresponding ratios lor the 
two classes of the white population; in the South 

Atlantic and Easl South Central divisions, however, 

the ratio for the native w lutes in the age groups under 
20 years is in general higher than that for the negroes. 
The exception just mentioned is largely to he ex- 
plained by the fact that trachoma, which is probably 
the most important single cause of blindness among 
children in these divisions, is in these sections of the 
country endemic mainly in the regions where the 
negro population is comparatively small, although the 
investigations of the United States Public Health 
Service tend also to show that the negroes are some- 
what less susceptible to trachoma than are the whites. 

The interruption to the regularity of the increase in 
the ratio with each succeeding age group in the case 
of the foreign-horn whites, which is shown by the 
figures for the United States as a whole, is also to be 
observed in each geographic division, although it does 
not always take place at the same age. Somewhat 
similar interruptions occur in the case of the negroes 
in the four northern divisions, possibly reflecting the 
influence of migration from other divisions. The ac- 
celeration of the increase in the ratio after the age <>f 
40, which Table 27 shows for each class for the coun- 
try as a whole, is also to be noted in practically every 
instance in Table 28, although there are a few cases 
in which it appears to be postponed until the age 
of 45. 

General Table 5 (p. 48) shows, for the United States 
as a whole, the age distribution of each race and 
nativity class in the blind population, by sex. Table 
29 shows the per cent distribution, by 10-year age 
groups, of the male and female blind population, 
respectively, in each class. 



Tabic- 29 


PEE CENT DISTRIBUTION i>F BLIND POPULATION OF Till: UNITED STATES: 1910.' 




All classes. 


White. 


Negro. 


All other. 






Female. 


Total. 


Native. 


Foreipn-liorn. 


Male. 


Female. 


Male. 


Female. 




Male. 


Female. 


Male. 


Female. 


lisle. 


Female. 


Total 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


KKl.ll 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


100.0 


Under 10 years 


3.0 

2.1 
7 2 

.1.4 

8.1 

12.1 
11 
17.0 
17 1 

12.2 


3.3 
1.0 
2.3 
7.6 
3.6 
1 
7.6 

11.7 

19.0 

1- 1 


3.1 

1.0 
2.2 
7.1 
3.4 
3.7 
7 7 
8.9 
11.9 
13.9 
17 I 
17 - 
12.2 


3.5 

2. 4 
7.6 

:;.7 

7.2 

:.(» 

11.9 

16.9 
19.7 

17 ; 


3.9 
1 J 
2.7 

4.:i 
4.6 

12.0 
13 7 
16 '-' 
15 s 

in v 


4.3 
1.4 

4.5 

1 .v 
s 

12.1 
16 

r ■ 


0.4 
(*) 
0, i 
0.8 
0.3 
0.6 

5.5 

11.4 
14.7 

25 i 

17 1 


0.3 
0.1 
0.2 
1.0 
0.6 
0.4 
2.1 
3.3 
6.5 
10 9 

25 l 


2.3 
0.7 

7.1 

10.8 
11.9 

l 1 i 
M 
117 

13 1 
,1.2 


2.8 
0.6 
2 I 
7.2 
3.1 
4.1 
9.7 

11.3 
14.1 

15 2 
22.0 


2.5 
1.1 
l 5 
4.6 

2.1 
4.4 
6.5 
12.2 
18.1 
19, l 

21 5 


2.0 
























7.:i 








B i 




18 a 




17 B 



















i Base i upon the populaii«m whose a^p was reported. 

A> in the blind population as a whole, so in each of 
the four principal race and nativity classes, the pro- 
portion of old people is higher among the female blind 
than it is among the male, although the extent of the 
ace varies, being considerable in the case of the 



in one-tenth ol l \»r oent 

foreign-horn whites and negroes, and relatively small 

in the case of I he nal ive whites and the classes included 
under the heading of "All other.'' Of the foreign-born 
white females in the blind population in 1910, more 
than three-fourths (76 per cent! were 60 years of age 



30 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



or over and more than one-half (55.3 per cent) 70 or 
over, while of the males only a little more than three- 
fifths (64 per cent) were 60 or over and only a little 
more than two-fifths (42.5 per cent) 70 or over, the 
wide differences in the percentages, of course, resulting 
from the fact that the male foreign-born population is 
much younger relatively than the female, and is also 
employed to a considerable degree in occupations 
having a special risk of blindness from injury. Of 
the blind negro females, about one-half (51.2 per cent) 
were 60 years of age or over, as compared with a corre- 
sponding percentage of 39, or less than two-fifths, for 
the males. As the male negro population as a whole 
contains a somewhat higher proportion of old persons 
than does the female, it is obvious that the differences 
here noted can not be accounted for by the age com- 
position of the respective sexes. In the case of the 
native whites and the races included under the head- 
ing "All other " there is a fairly close correspondence 
between the proportions 60 years of age or over for 
the two sexes, the percentages being 42.9 for males 
and 48.4 for females in the case of the former class, 
and 56.6 and 61.3, respectively, in the case of the 
latter. 

The proportions of persons under 20 years of age in 
the blind population of the various classes show com- 
paratively little difference for the two sexes, the per- 



centages being 12.8 and 13.6, respectively, in the case 
of the native whites, 1.2 and 1.3 in the case of the for- 
eign-born whites, 10 for each sex in the case of the 
negroes, and 7.2 and 8.1 in the case of the "All other" 
group. More than one-half (51 per cent) of the blind 
negro males were adults from 20 to 59 years of age, 
and the proportion was also fairly high (44.4 per cent) 
among the native whites, while among the "All other" 
class it was 36.2 per cent, and among the foreign-born 
whites 34.8 per cent. In the female blind population, 
the highest percentage within these age groups (38.7) 
is shown for the negroes, although that for the native 
whites (38) was nearly as high; for the classes included 
under the heading "All other," however, it was only 
30.5, while among the foreign-born whites the propor- 
tion was less than one-fourth (22.7 per cent). 

Table 26 (p. 27) shows the median age of the male and 
female blind population, respectively, in each race and 
nativity class. From this table it will be seen that for 
the two white classes the median age of the female 
blind is about four years greater than that of the male 
blind; in the case of the negroes, however, the differ- 
ence is about eight years, while among the "Other 
colored" it is only two and a half years. 

Table 30 shows, by 5-year age groups, the ratio of 
the reported blind to the total population of the same 
race, nativity, sex, and age. 



AGE GKOUP. 



BLIND POPULATION PER 100,000 GENERAL POPULATION OF SAME RACE, NATIVITY, SEX, AND AGE: 1910. 



Male. Female. 



Male. Female. 



Total 

Under 5 years... 
Under 1 year 
1 to 4 years. . 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years.... 
25 to 29 years.... 
30 to 34 years.... 
35 to 39 years.... 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years.... 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 61 years.... 
65 to 69 years.... 
70 to 74 years.... 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years.... 
85 years or over . . 



13.6 
24.1 
26.9 
27.7 
31.9 
38.7 
47.6 
64.1 

lOSii) 
150. 7 
215. 6 

3-1(1.3 
491.1 



111.8 
178.1 
265. 1 
426. 2 



316.9 
453.5 
795.3 

1,235.7 
2,385.0 



20.2 
23.8 

27.3 
37.7 
51.3 
73.5 
102.6 
162.2 
246.6 

648^7 
1,1.52.3 

2,267.5 



34.1 
41.* 4 
49.0 
65.2 
90.9 
104.9 
145. 5 
216. 4 
33s. r, 



10.7 
15.3 
22.8 
37.4 
57.9 
77.3 
117.9 
166.3 
271.3 
398.3 
731.4 
1,076.4 
2,015.8 



10.9 
11.2 
21.0 
30.6 
51.7 
76.6 
127.5 
202.6 
370.9 
613.8 
991.6 
, 077. 7 



559. 2 

896.9 

1,261.7 

2, 120. 4 

3, 184. 



110.8 

156. 8 

216.9 

331.6 

467.7 

794.7 

1,311.4 

2, 110. 5 

4,411.2 



44.2 
29.7 
54.7 
70.9 
138.8 
180.9 
209.9 
325.4 
533.2 
1,314.4 



13.3 
21.5 
11.2 



133. 5 
248.0 
314.6 
323.1 
417.0 
,012.0 
, 497. 1 
,909.4 
:,577.8 
, 899. 1 



. :,77. 



The figures showing the ratios of blind to total pop- 
ulation in the different age groups of the various race 
and nativity classes disclose practically the same tend- 
encies when the two sexes are considered separately 
as do those for both sexes combined. It will be 
observed that the excess of the female ratio over the 
male ratio, which has already been noted as existing 
in the case of the races included under the heading of 
"All other," is almost entirely confined to the age 
groups comprising persons from 15 to 70 years of age, 



in which the Chinese and Japanese population, which, 
as already stated, contains relatively few females and 
blind persons, is mainly concentrated. The interrup- 
tion to the increase in the ratio in the case of the 
foreign-born whites, to which attention has already 
been called, appears to occur somewhat earlier in the 
case of the males than in that of the females. The 
general acceleration in the increase in the ratio after 
the age of 40, previously noted, appears to be common 
to the two sexes, except among the negroes, where 



COUNTRY OF BIRTH 



8 1 



the increase in the female ratio does not show am 
marked acceleration until the age of r>. 

0OUNTR1 <u BIBTB OF FOREIGN-BORN WHITES. 

General Table 2 (p. i- Bhows the distribution, 
according to country of birth, of the foreign-born \\ bite 
blind population of each geographic division and state. 
Table 31 compares thi^ distribution for the United 
States as a whole with that o( the total foreign-born 
white population, and also shows the ratio of blind to 
total population for each country of birth. 



1'ubli- SI 


• BORN WHTT1 POPULATION <>>■ nil DOTTED 
s: 1910. 




Total. 




lililHl. 






Number. 


Per cent 
distri- 
bution. 


Number. 


Per cent 

distri- 
bution. 


Number 

per 100,000 

general 

population 
of same 
nativity . 


All countries 


13. 34.-.. 545 


100.0 


9,939 


1(10. 


74.5 


Anstria-Himgary. 

Austria 


1,201,146 

- 
958.934 

2,501,181 

1,343,070 

172,518 

123. 121 

49. 397 

1,732, 121 

1,602,752 

1.250.662 
181,621 

665,183 
261,034 
124,831 

440. 02S 


12.5 
8.8 
3.7 

9.0 
2.9 
6.1 
7.2 
0.9 
18.7 
10.1 
10.1 
1.6 

1.3 

0.9 
0.4 
13.0 
12.0 
1.0 
".4 
1.4 
3.0 
5.0 
2.0 
0.9 
3.3 


376 

306 
70 

973 
360 
613 
1.119 
116 

■J. 293 
257 

161 

138 
23 
392 
356 

790 
103 
293 
394 
214 
125 
144 


i 

3.1 

0.7 

1.8 
3.6 
6. -' 
11.3 
1.2 
26. 7 
23. 1 

3.3 

1.0 

1.4 
0.2 

3.9 

3.6 
0.4 
7.9 
1.0 

4.0 
2. 2 
1.3 
1.4 


22.5 

.v.. II 


N irfoond- 
land. 
of French parentage . 
Of other parei 

: BOO Wales 


M.O 
93.5 
75. 1 

in;. 7 


















■ Is. Belgium, 
and Luxemburg 
Netherlands and 

Luxemburg 

Rel^'ium 

Russia and Finland 


93.3 

112.1 

46.6 
22. 6 







































1 Includes all persons reporting Newfoundland as country of birth. 
' Includes persons born at sea. 

Four countries — Germany, Ireland, England and 
Wall-, and Canada (including Newfoundland) — 
furnished the great hulk (70. S per cent) of the foreign- 
born white blind population. Germany, with 20.7 per 
cent, or a little more than one-fourth, and Ireland, 
with 23.1 per cent, or a little less than one-fourth, 
together contributing practically one-half of the total. 
Of the total foreign-born white population, these 
countries contributed 45.1 per cent, Germany con- 
tributing IS. 7 percent* and Ireland 10.1 percent. The 
fact that the natives of these countries in the United 
Stales include more than their due proportion of the 
foreign-born white blind population results mainly 
from the fact that these are the countries most numer- 
ously represented among the earlier immigrants, who 
naturally comprise a larger proportion of persons who 
have attained the ages when blindness is most preva- 
lent. Persons of Irish birth show the highest ratio 
of blind to total Dumber (169.6 per 100,000), persons 



horn in Mexico ranking next, with :i ratio of I 18.3 

l»er mo.ooo. wlnlc England and Wales, the Nether- 
Lands and Luxemburg, Germany, and Switzerland 
each show ratios exceeding LOO per 100,000. In most 

cases, of course, these high ratios do not Indicate any 

special tendency to blindness on the pari of the given 

nationality, bul rather that the natives of these 

countries include an exceptionally high proportion of 

old people, and in general the variations in the ratios 
shown in the table, with the resultant variations in 
the relative importance of the respective countries of 
birth ill the blind as compared with the total foreign- 
born white population, reflect differences in the age 

distribution of the members of the respective nationali- 
ties in the United Stales. In some cases, however, 
other factors are undoubtedly of importance in affect- 
ing the ratios; in the case of the Mexicans, in partic- 
ular, it seems probable that the relatively large num- 
ber of blind persons reported is due not so much to an 
exceptionally high proportion of old people, though 
there is some reason to believe that the proportion 
of old people in the population of Mexican birth is 
fairly high, as it is to a combination of other condi- 
tions, such as the fact that the Mexicans in the United 

States are employed largely in mining and railroad con- 
struction, branches of industry having a special hazard 
of blindness, the relatively high prevalence among this 
element of the population of smallpox and possibly 
of other diseases affecting the vision, and perhaps a 
greater tendency to permit affections of the eye to 
run their course without seeking medical relief. 

MARITAL CONDITION. 

Table 32 shows the distribution, according to marital 
condition, of the total and the, blind population I. 3 
years of age or over in 1910. 



Table 32 


POPULATION OP THE UNITED STATES 15 
YEARS OF AGE OR OVER: 1910. 1 


MARITAL CONDITION. 


Total. 


Blind. 




Number. 


Percent 

distri- 
bution. 


Number. 


distri- 
bution. 






M U 


i'.. 







:;.•. !_•.-. sm-, 


100.0 


80,365 










12,650,129 
19,720,152 

18,092,600 

I. 171,390 
166,162 
166,5241 


3X.7 
60.8 

I . G 
0.5 
0.6 


'1.777 

6,208 

:ti7 
162 




Married, widowed, or divorced 


i.7.:i 










Marital condition not i cportcd 


... 




rail m.i . 




30,047,325 


100 


23,111 










s.ira, i7ii 

17,684,687 

:;.i rail's 

l-O.IH.S 

68,172 


29.7 
70.0 

hi i, 
0.6 
0.2 


6,752 

U.. '.'72 

.,. Hi.", 

10,019 

Its 

87 




Harried, widowed, or divori 


70. l 




18. 4 






Marital condition not reported 


0.4 



Includes those who •■ age was not reported. 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Of the male blind population 15 years of age or over 
in 1910 about one-third (32.2 per cent) were single and 
about two-thirds (67.3 per cent) married, widowed, or 
divorced; among the female blind population the 
percentage single was somewhat less (29.2) and the 
percentage married, widowed, or divorced somewhat 
greater (70.4). In the general population the differ- 
ence between the sexes as regards the percentage 
single is even more marked than it is for the blind, and 
is due in part to the excess of males and in part to 
the fact that women normally marry at a younger age 
than men. Doubtless this latter fact is largely re- 
sponsible for the difference in the case of the blind 
also, especially in view of the probability that a large 
proportion of the blind who have been married were 
married before blindness occurred. 

Although in the case of the blind there is not much 
difference between the sexes as regards the proportion 
of persons who are or have been married, there is a 
very marked difference in the relative number of 
married and of widowed. In the case of the male 
blind population 15 years of age or over in 1910 con- 
siderably more than two-fifths (45.8 per cent) were 
married and one-fifth (20.4 per cent) widowed, while 
among the females only about one-fourth (26.4 per 
cent) were married, and more than two-fifths (43.4 
per cent) were widowed. The reason for these wide 
differences is, of course, to be found partly in the 
greater age of the female blind population and partly 
in the fact that widows are much more numerous than 
widowers in the general population. 

The fact that the percentage single is somewhat 
less in the male blind population than in the total male 
population, and the further fact that the percentages 
single for females in the blind and the general popu- 
lation are practically the same, must, of course, not 
be taken as indicating that the tendency to marriage 
among the blind is as great as, or greater than, the 
corresponding tendency in the population at large. 
If in the case of the blind the tendency to marry was 
in fact normal, the percentage single would be decidedly 
smaller, and the percentage married, widowed, or 
divorced decidedly larger, than in the total population, 
for the simple reason that, as already shown by the 
statistics regarding age, a very large proportion of the 
blind are past middle life, or, in other words, have 
reached the age when in a normal class of population 
most people have married. In view of this peculiar 
age composition the percentage single among the 
blind instead of being normal, as the figures in Table 
32 might suggest, is in fact very abnormal. It is 



possible to ascertain approximately the normal pro- 
portion of single in a group having the same age com- 
position as the blind by computing what the total 
number of single persons among the blind would be if 
in each age group the percentage single was the same 
as it is for the same age group in the total population. 
On that assumption the number of single males would 
have been only 5,320, or 17.5 per cent of the total, and 
the number of single females only 3,102, or 13.4 per 
cent of the total. In other words, instead of 16,529 
single persons, representing 30.9 per cent of the total, 
in the blind population 15 years of age or over, the 
number -single would have been only 8,402, repre- 
senting 15.7 per cent of the total, or only about one- 
half as great, and instead of 36,708 not single (that is, 
married, widowed, or divorced), the number not single 
would have been 44,775, or about one-fifth greater. 
The difference between the two sets of figures affords 
a rough measure of the extent to which blindness acts 
as a bar to marriage. 

Although married, widowed, or divorced persons 
taken together represent approximately the same 
proportion of the general population and of the blind 
population, respectively, there is a decided difference 
in the relative importance both of the married and of 
the widowed when considered separately. Among 
the males of 15 or over the proportion married is 
somewhat less than it is in the general population of 
the same age and the proportion widowed much 
greater, while for the females the difference is even 
more striking, the percentages for the married being 
26.4 and 58.9, respectively, and those for the Widowed 
43.4 and 10.6, respectively. These differences are, of 
course, due primarily to the much greater age of the 
blind population, although it should also be borne in 
mind that the blind widowers and widows are prob- 
ably less likely to remarry than those who have their 
sight. 

Table 33 (p. 33) shows the distribution, according to 
marital condition, of the blind population in the 
principal foreign countries for which statistics are 
available. 

General Table 6 (p. 49) shows, for each geographic 
division and state, the distribution according to mari- 
tal condition of the male and female blind population, 
respectively. General Table 7 (p. 50) distributes the 
male and female blind population in each race and 
nativity class according to marital condition. General 
Table 8 (p. 50) shows the distribution, according to 
marital condition, of the blind population 15 years of 
age or over in 1910 by age groups. 



MARITAL CONDITION 



38 



Tabu 88. -BLIND POPULATION OF THE I M it.i> si' v PES \\i> OF FOREIGN I 01 NTRIES, CI AS8I] [EP \< l ORDINQ 

TO M \i:i I' M I ONDITION 



Cniled - 

Continental United States 



lVrto Ki.v 



BVROPK. 



Bulgaria 

Denmark > 

England ami Wales. 



Germany 

> 

Ireland 

Netherl.i! 

Norwav 

iropean>». 

Serbia 

Sweden 

Switzerland 



1905 
1911 
1911 
1901 
1900 
1910 
1911 
1909 
1910 
1897 
1900 
1900 
• 



Ash. 



uic) 11 

Afi:ua. 

I'nion of South Africa. . 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Natal 

Orange Free State. . 
Transvaal 



Australasia. 

Commonwealth of Australia » 

New South Wales 

Queensland 

South Australia 



1911 
I'll 
1911 
1911 
1911 



1911 

I'll 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
191 1 



hum. POrUUTIOM 



11.' 



J, ISO 
891 
i.i ,257 
11 :.i 
17,818 
1,344 
2,133 

i . i ;:■ 

• 

i . a 8 

1,671 
1,109 



- 
534 



single. 



111,858 

43 



■ 



Married, widowed, or divorced, 



Told. Married. 



889 



713 
967 



2, 196 
1,202 



779 

13.1111 



1.1 3o 

.-...-.37 



1 . 994 
934 
309 



3(1 
In.". 



127 

( 9 ) 
272 

(.0) 



run 



reported, 






29.0 
62. 1 
11.0 

28.9 
11.(1 
42.1 
40.0 

18.3 

(10) 
23.6 
53.2 
52.2 



14.6 
12.6 

IV s 

38. l 
14 2 

II.:. 
83. 1 



IVr . .Ml ..( total 



Married, a Idowad, "i dlvoroad. 



Total. Married. 



54.0 
51.7 

(10) 



;,-,. i 
57. i 
51.2 
61.6 
65. 8 

36.9 



16.7 

11.8 
48.8 
89.7 
45. 4 
84.0 
(') 
39.1 
12.6 
48.8 
80.1 
30.5 



■ 22. '.' 
16.9 
12.2 
20.0 

(•) 
24.3 

(10) 
27. 8 
16.6 
16.5 



i In calculating these percent-ices persons whose marital condition was not reported have been excluded from i be l 

« Includes all blind persons reported as under 15 years of age. 

» Exclusive of Faroe Islands. 

« Includes blind persons legally separated. 

4 The divorced are included with the other three classes. 

« Divorced blind persons are included with the widowed. 

' The "not reported " class includes 1.499 males reported from institutions. 

» The marital condition of the married, widowed, and divorced was not reported separately. 

» Including Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 

'• The marital condition returns for the blind differentiated only iho married and the not married. 

» Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. 

'» Exclusive of full-blooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Federal Capital Territory. 



34 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 33.— BLIND POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING 

TO MARITAL CONDITION— Continued. 



BLIND POPULATION. 



Married, widowed, or divorced. 



Per cent ol total. 



Married, widowed, or divorced. 



America. 



Canada 

United States: 

Continental United States. 

Hawaii 

Porto Rico 



Europe. 



Bulgaria. 



England and Wales. 

France 

Germany 

Saxony 

Ireland 

Netherlands 

Norway 

Russia (European) 9 . 
Serbia 



Switzerland . 



Russia (Asiatic) ll 

Africa. 

Union ot South Africa. . 
Cape of Good Hope. 

Natal 

Orange Free State.. 
Transvaal 



Australasia. 

Commonwealth of Australia i 

New South Wales 

Queensland 

South Australia 

Tasmania 

Victoria 

Western Australia 



1910 
1910 
1910 



1905 
1911 
1911 
1901 
1900 
1910 
1911 
1909 
1910 
1897 
1900 
1900 
1895-96 



l.ill 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 



1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 
1911 



13,079 
12,453 
16,516 



705 
409 
5,731 
2,704 
7,659 
511 
1,112 



2,207 

352 

7,348 

7,137 

8,831 

505 

1,067 

735 

520 

(10) 

874 



493 



(10) 

544 
462 



(10) 
19.0 

5o!s' 



22.2 
25.2 
18.5 
19.6 
13.9 
( 8 ) 
16.8 
25.2 
30.4 
15.2 
17.6 



45.4 
29.2 
34.0 

M7.3 
34.6 
29.3 
35.1 

( 8 ) 
37.2 

(10) 

50.4 
26.5 



i In calculating these percentages persons whose marital condition was not reported have been excluded from the total. 

2 Includes all blind persons reported as under 15 years of age. 

» Exclusive of Faroe Islands. 

* Includes blind persons legally separated. 

s The divorced are included with the other three classes. 

6 Divorced blind persons are included with the widowed. 

' The "not reported " class includes 1 ,553 females reported from institutions. 

s The marital condition of the married, widowed, and divorced was not reported separately. 

9 Including Poland, but exclusive of Finland. 

io The marital condition returns for the blind differentiated only the married and the not married. 

11 Caucasus, Siberia, and Central Asia. 

" Exclusive of full-blooded aboriginals. Includes Northern Territory and Federal Capital Territory. 



OCCUPATIONS. 



85 



OCCUPATIONS. 

Probabrj one of the most interesting and important 
subjects which can be considered in any statistical 
study of the blind population is t lint of their occupa- 
tions, by reason of the fact that blindness is a defect 
which, if not totally disabling those afflicted with it 
from gainful employment, in the great majority of 
seriously limits their earning capacity, and con- 
fines them to n comparatively narrow range of occu- 
pations. General Table 9 (p. 51) presents statistics 
a> to the occupations of the male and female blind 
population 10 years of age or over in L910, classified 
according to race and nativity. 

The census statistics o( occupations of the blind 
are derived from two different sources. The special 
schedule of inquiry which, as already mentioned, was 
sent to every person reported as blind at the popula- 
tion census contained questions as to the occupation. 
if any. in which the person was engaged. The answers 
to these questions formed the basis for the occupation 
tabulation for that portion of the blind population 
returning this schedule, except in the comparatively 
few cases where the person filling out the schedule 
either failed to answer the questions or else obviously 
misunderstood them. For the remainder of the blind 
population it was necessary to have recourse to the 
occupation return on the general population schedule. 

A- would naturally he expected, the returns on the 
special schedules appear on the whole to have been 
fairly accurate, the most serious error apparently 
arising in the case of blind farmers, who frequently 
appear to have reported themselves as having no 
occupation because they were unable to go out ami 
do actual physical work in the field. In the case of 
the returns on the general population schedule, how- 
ever, a study of the statistics makes it apparent that 
the enumerators must frequently have reported the 
occupation followed by the blind person before he 
became blind. For example, in a considerable num- 
ber of instances a given individual w-as, according to 
the enumerator's return, employed as a carpenter, 
but in practically every case where such a person 
returned the special schedule his answers to the 
inquiries regarding occupation showed clearly that 
this was merely his occupation before the advent of 
blindness, the fact being in most cases that at the 
time of the enumeration he had no occupation what- 
ever. Instances of such returns do not appear to have 
been sufficiently numerous to introduce any material 
error into the statistics, but in any study of the figures 
in Table 9 it should be borne in mind that they over- 
state to a certain extent the total number of blind 
persons gainfully employed. 

In order to bring out the relative extent to which 
the blind population of the United States are carrying 
on gainful occupations Table :; 1 i- presented, which 
shows the number and percentage of the total male 



and female population 10 veal's of age or over in each 
race and nativil\ cla^s in l'.UO who were reported as 



gainfully employed. 



in til.- a ■ 


BUND POT1 i HIOM I0TSA1 ■ u: 1010 ' 




m da 


i en Jc 




81,473 


Oalnfullj employed, 


Total 


Oalnfullj i 




Number. 


Percent 
ol total. 


Number. 


iii cent 
ol total, 


Ulola i 


r.iiTf, 


25.3 


24, (KM 


1.345 


5.0 


Whit* 






25.9 


10,877 


1,062 










5,793 

.'.. 323 


1,211 

1.103 


27 i 
20.0 

22.4 


15,766 

l.lll 

i 128 


809 
108 

2S8 












Negro 

Other colored 


1,857 
106 


1,115 
78 


23.0 
16.7 


8, 770 
858 


205 
L8 


7.0 

.-,.1 



1 Includes the small number whose age was not reported 
Of the 31,473 blind males 10 years of age or over in 
1910, only 7,976, representing 2.").. "5 per cent, or about 
one-fourth, were reported as being gainfully employed, 
as compared with a corresponding percentage of 81.3 
for the total male population of that age, while 
of the 24,000 blind females of the same age, only 
1,345, or 5.6 per cent, were reported as gainfully (in- 
ployed, the corresponding percentage for the general 
population being 23.4. These figures do not mean, 
however, that even as many as 9,000 blind persons 
were earning their own livelihood; the actual number 
was in all probability considerably less. Leaving out 
of consideration the circumstance already noted that 
blind persons frequently were incorrectly reported by 
the population enumerators as still carrying on the 
occupation in which they were engaged at the time 
when they became blind, in a large proportion, possibly 
the great majority, of cases where an occupation was 
reported on the special schedule the earnings received 
from it fell far short of the amount necessary to make 
the person reporting it self-supporting, in. many 
instances being a mere pittance of less than $100 a 
year. This is particularly the case among the female 
blind, a large number of the blind females for whom an 
occupation was reported merely doing a little knitting 
or fancy work and selling the articles which they 
made. A fuller discussion of the economic status of 
the blind population as regards ability for self-support 
will be presented in the final report, which will include 
statistics as to the annual earnings of the blind who 
were gainfully employed and returned the special 
schedule. 

It should, however, he home in mind in connection 
with Table •"> I that failure on the part of the blind 
person to report an occupation does not necessarily 
indicate in any given case that by reason of lii^ in- 
firmity he has been disabled from gainful employ- 
ment. Blindness, a- already pointed out. is largely 



36 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



a defect of advancing years, and a very considerable 
proportion of the blind population have passed the 
age when retirement from active employment usually 
occurs, so that the number of blind persons not gain- 
fully employed does not by any means indicate the 
number of individuals lost to the working force of 
the United States by reason of blindness. This is par- 
ticularly true as regards the female blind, many of 
whom, moreover, are housewives living in their own 
homes and are therefore not reported as having a gain- 
ful occupation. In the case of this latter class, of course, 
their blindness may serve indirectly to increase the 
economic burden of the family by compelling the 
employment of additional household help ; but even this 
is not necessarily the case, as in many instances blind 
women continue to do the greater part, if not all, 
of their household work. The seriousness of blindness 
as an economic handicap should, of course, not be 
underemphasized; but the extent to which it operates 
as a handicap can not properly be measured by the 
number of blind persons not reporting an occupation. 

Of the several race and nativity classes, the native 
whites show the highest percentage gainfully employed 
among the males (27.4) and the "Other colored" the 
lowest (16.7), while in the case of the females the 
negroes show the highest percentage (7) and the 
foreign-born the lowest (4). The low proportions 
shown for both the foreign-born whites and the " Other 
colored" as compared with the other two classes are 
due probably to the fact that these classes are made 
up more largely of old people, who would ordinarily 



be incapacitated or have retired from active employ- 
ment even if they had retained their vision. 

The population enumerators were instructed, in 
making their returns as to occupation, to make the 
entry own income in the case of all persons who 
followed no specific occupation but had an independent 
income upon which they were living. An examination 
of the returns makes it apparent that there was a con- 
siderable diversity of interpretation in the application 
of these instructions, some enumerators reporting 
"own income" only when such income was adequate 
for the support of the person enumerated, while others 
went so far as to make this return for persons receiving 
county poor relief. For this reason statistics on this 
subject are somewhat inaccurate; as a matter of 
interest, however, a separate tabulation was made of 
the blind persons for whom this return was made. The 
total number of such persons, as will be seen from 
General Table 9 (p. 51), was 4,240, representing only 
9.2 per cent of the total blind population 10 years of 
age or over not gainfully employed; most of these 
were whites, only 188 being colored. 

It is apparent that, so far as the blind are gainfully 
employed at all, they must of necessity be confined to 
a comparatively narrow range of occupations, repre- 
senting those which can be successfully carried on 
without the aid of sight. In order to bring out more 
clearly the important occupations for the blind, 
Table 35 is presented, which shows the leading occu- 
pations reported for the male blind 10 years of age or 
over, arranged in order of numerical importance. 



OCCUPATION. 



Farmers (including dairy- 
farmers) 

Broom makers 

Musicians and teachers of 



Retail merchants and dealers 
(other than hucksters and 

peddlers) 

Grocers 

Cigar and tohacco dealers. 

General storekeepers 

Newsdealers 

Dealers in music and 

musical instruments 

All other retail merchants 

and dealers 

Hucksters and peddlers 

Piano tuners 

Agricultural laborers 

Laborers (not otherwise speci- 



Chaircaners 

Canvassers and agents (other 
than real estate and insur- 
ance) 

Wood sawyers and woodchop- 
pers 

Clergymen and oth er rel igious 
workers 

Newspaper carriers and news- 
boys 

Salesmen; saleswomen, and 
clerks (in stores) 

All others 



MALE BLIND POPULATION 10 



OF AGE OR OVER GAINFULLY EMPLOYED: 1910.' 



86 

88 
1,037 



Per cent distribution. 



Total. Negro. 



1.1 

0.4 
21.3 



Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



Percent distribution of "Other colored" not shown, as base is less than 100. 



OCCUPATIONS. 



;;t 



Practically two-thirds (67.1 per cent) of the blind 
males reporting an occupation were employed in one 
of the nine leading occupations shown in the table, 
comprising nil in which as main as 200 males were 
employed. Farmers are most important numerically, 
representing 22.2 per cent, or more than one-fifth, 
of the total number of blind males gainfully employ edj 
most of these, o( course, are persons who were already 
engaged in fanning at the time when they lost their 
sight, and who continued to direct the operation of 
their farms even though prevented by their loss of 
vision from taking an\ active part in the farm work. 

The large number of farmers reported is. of course, 

due to the fact that farming is one of the most impor- 
tant occupations numerically in the general population, 
so that the number of farmers losing their sight by 

reason of disorders attendant upon advancing years 

will normally he relatively large; at the same time 
loss of Bight, as already indicated, does not constitute 
so much of a handicap to persons engaged in this 
occupation as it does in most. 

Next to farming, broom making is the most im- 
portant occupation reported for blind males, the 
number of broom makers reported being 665, com- 
prising 8.3 per cent, or about one-twelfth, of the total 
number gainfully employed. Musicians and teach- 
ers of music rank third, with 646, or 8.1 per cent of 
the total: this classification covers a wide scope, 
comprising a number of highly trained musicians, 
who are able to earn a substantial income by means 
of their profession, and also blind street singers, 
accordion players, and the like, whose actual pro- 
fession could in many cases be more justly character- 
ized as begging. 

In any study of occupation statistics for the blind, 
particular interest attaches to those trades which 
have been found especially available as a means of 
employment for this class of the population and the 
reporting of which presumably indicates that the 
person reporting has received special vocational train- 
ing since the loss of his vision. The nine leading occu- 
pations for the male blind, as shown in the preceding 
table, include three such trades, namely, broom mak- 
ing, piano tuning, and chair caning, a total of 1,256 
blind males, or about one-sixth (15.7 per cent) of the 
entire number gainfully employed, being engaged in 
these three occupations. Figures as to the number 
employed in other trades of this character may be 
found in General Table 9 (p. 51), the most important 
being baskel making, which gave employment to 50 



blind men, mattress making, which was reported b\ 15, 

and carpel and rug making, which was reported by .'III. 
Reference has already heen made to the fad that 
i lie occupations reported were in many instances 
merely nominal. This is particularly the case with 
respect to two of the leading Occupation classes 

shown in Table ■;"•. hucksters and peddlers and laborers 
••not otherwise specified," the former comprising 

Very largely persons selling lead pencils, matches, 
shoe Strings, and similar articles on the street, who 

might perhaps he more accurately described as 
beggars, and the latter persons picking up small sums 

now and then by the performance of odd jobs and 

chores. The w oodchoppers and wood sawyers, who 
Comprise mainly blind men earning a trifling amount 
from time to time by splitting or sawing wood for 
private families, also come under this general heading, 

as do probably the greater part of the canvassers and 

agents. Mention has already been made in this con- 
nection of the street musicians. 

The 339 agricultural laborers shown in Table 35 
probably represent mainly erroneous returns by the 
enumerators, as in the majority of instances the per- 
sons returned as agricultural laborers by the enumer- 
ators and filling out the special schedule of inquiry 
indicated that this was merely their occupation before 
blindness. There were, however, a number of cases, 
particularly in the South, whero blind persons appeal- 
actually to have been employed as agricultural 
laborers, probably to a large extent in such forms of 
work as husking corn, where feeling with the hands 
can to a large extent take the place of sight. 

Some difference exists between the respective race 
and nativity classes in respect to the leading occupa- 
tions for the blind. In all four classes farming is the 
principal occupation for the male blind, while broom 
makers are second in both of the white classes; among 
the negroes, however, second place is held by wood 
sawyers and woodchoppers. Musicians and teach- 
ers of music rank third among the native whites, 
hucksters and peddlers among the foreign-born whites, 
and laborers "not otherwise specified" among the 
negroes. Vocational training for the blind losing t hen- 
sight prior to or during the years of economic activity 
has apparently made little progress as yet among the 
negroes, only 37 chair caners, 15 broom makers, and 
•4 piano tuners being reported among the blind negro 
males. 

Table 36 shows for the female blind statistics similar 
to those showm in Table 35 for the male blind. 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



OCCUPATION. 



Total. 



Musicians and teachers of 
music 

Farmers (including dairy 
farmers) 

Servants and -waitresses 

Laundresses (not in laundries) 
Knitters (not in factories) 



Agricultural laborers 

Fancy workers (not in fac- 
tories) 

Professors, school principals, 
and teachers 

Chair caners 

Canvassers and agents (other 
than real estate and insur- 
ance) 



N urses 

Retail merchants and dealers 
(other than hucksters and 
peddlers) 



Weavers, not otherwise speci- 
fied (not in factories) 

Basket makers 

Hucksters and peddlers 

All others 



FEMALE BLIND POPULATION 10 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER GAINFULLY EMPLOYED: 1910. 1 



Per cent distribution. 



Total. Negro. 



Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



2 Per cent distribution of "Other colored" not shown, as base is less than 100. 



As would be expected, the female blind show a 
much narrower range of occupations than do the male 
blind. Of the total number for whom a gainful occu- 
pation was reported (1,345), 717, or somewhat more 
than one-half (53.3 per cent), were employed in one 
of the six leading occupations. Musicians and teachers 
of music were most numerous, representing 12.4 per 
cent, or about one-eighth, of the total, farmers ranking 
second and servants and waitresses third; most of the 
latter, however, probably represent instances where 
the occupation prior to the occurrence of blindness 
was erroneously reported. In general, it is probable 
that to a greater extent relatively than among the 
males the occupation returned was either more or less 
nominal in character, as in the case of knitters and 
fancy workers, of whom 188, representing about one- 
seventh of the total, or the occupation pursued before 
the advent of blindness, as in the case of the majority 
of those reported as servants, laundresses, and agricul- 
tural laborers. 



The several race and nativity classes show somewhat 
more pronounced differences with respect to the princi- 
pal occupations reported for the female blind than was 
the case with the male. Among the native white blind 
women reporting a gainful occupation musicians and 
teachers of music were most numerous, followed by 
farmers, the latter comprising very largely women who 
lost their sight in later life. Among the foreign-born 
whites, knitters and servants and waitresses were most 
numerous, the prominence of the former occupation 
resulting largely from the fact that blindness among 
the foreign-born females is mainly associated with 
advanced years. Among the negroes, laundresses 
and agricultural laborers were most numerous, these 
two occupations giving employment to more than one- 
half (52.1 per cent) of the total for whom an occupation 
was reported; servants and waitresses ranked third. 
Of the 18 females, all Indians, included under the 
heading "Other colored" who were returned as gain- 
fully employed, 8 were basket makers. 



GENERAL TABLES. 



(39) 



GENERAL TABLES. 



11 



T.VBLE 1.— BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED \ V THE POP1 I ITION CEN8US. classified ACCORDING To RACE. 
NATIVITY, AND SEX, B^ DIVISIONS WD STATES: 1910. 






I'xiri 



Mi.i.lle Atlantic. 

i Central. 

I) Central. 
South All.uilio 

h Central. 

West South Central. 





BUND POP! i ITIOH i M M> RATED ir POP! i I 








8,006 




i lot>: 


585 
-•U 
801 
8,040 
314 
553 

1,127 

2,121 

1 . 574 
1,821 

881 
1 . 388 
2,442 

107 

404 

131 

_. 
1,049 

?<: 
1,508 
1,011 
1,701 

402 

: ■'• 

1,572 

■ 

1,201 
1,107 

"74 

- 

108 
158 
48 
37" 
554 
196 
188 

439 
297 




impshire 








Middle Atlantic: 






ITH Central: 




Illinois 

Mu-hicui 




.th Central: 














South Atlantic: 




District of Columbia 












th Central: 


Tennessee 


Mississippi 

West South Central: 
Arkansas 






Mountain: 
















Pacific: 




California 



i hk 




l. 134 




077 




857 




582 






291 


1MI 


151 


300 


1,0*4 




2.00.J 


17> 


144 


80S 


311 


242 






2,106 


4,. 545 


i.U 


516 


i."-: 


2. 179 


1,703 




2,100 


1,580 


8,508 


1,194 


827 


2,033 


. •■ 


i . 281 1 


2. 858 




082 


1.530 


750 


571 


1,290 




326 


855 


K04 


584 


1,307 


1,373 


1.0O9 


2,230 


• 


82 


13'.' 


101 


107 


197 


205 


199 




1 


(22 


980 


-- 


56 


96 


44'. 


860 




120 


KB 


114 




753 


971 


150 


341 


753 


796 


767 


931 




458 




948 


753 


vm; 


221 


181 


196 


1,200 


947 




: 


921 


1,426 




710 


800 


727 


611 


' . 


" 


m 


352 


019 


4"" 


l"" 


500 


374 


071 


1.370 


1,069 




118 


50 


110 


93 


65 


129 


31 


17 


39 


240 


138 


369 


880 


21" 


486 


131 


65 


94 


103 


85 


181 


54 


43 


20 


281 


158 


373 


199 


98 


275 


908 


421 


1.1''" 



2. l'.'S 
5. 140 

2. 132 



2. I"" 



2,050 

1.130 
1,631 

"73 



791 

1.211 
72 
125 



l.ol--, 
729 
399 



1 
1,163 

■ 

2. MM 

2. i'.i; 



Both 


m ile 


17.00 






1,539 


<■. TO" 




s.502 


I.MS 


4.727 


2,708 


. 017 


2,497 


4.337 


2,309 


8, 131 


l."7l 


1.111 


095 


l . 283 




♦87 






122 


233 


114 


1,311 


700 


17!' 


99 


807 


211 


2,926 


1,66s 




373 


3.144 


1 . "22 


2,945 


1,099 


1,802 


1,010 


2.07'.' 


1.1"2 


1 001 


5.-.S 


675 


393 


415 


255 


1,04s 


.v.c 


1,1 


1,097 


51 


22 


109 


09 


832 


17" 


807 


185 


84 


46 


4"" 


276 


84 


42 


(150 


:.ll 


727 


414 


929 


: 


380 


195 


797 


441 


178 


93 


1 , 70S 


961 


1. 102 


716 




3S0 


150 


246 


829 


417 


420 


23! 


643 


367 


1,533 


850 


81 


60 


0" 


59 


24 


16 


289 


178 


451 


270 


52 


39 


102 


61 


14 


12 


279 


165 


222 


154 


782 


532 



1,271 
2,906 

3.711 
2.021 
2. 120 
2.02" 
1.557 

no 

432 






1,019 

829 

""7 



3, l.-.l, 

I 

858 

219 



203 

l. 134 
992 
809 

184 






l"" 

186 

i. 171 

1,104 



1. 



800 

1,"," 

I 

10 






42 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 2.— FOREIGN-BORN WHITE BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED 
ACCORDING TO COUNTRY OF BIRTH, BY DIVISIONS AND STATES: 1910. 



DIVISION AND STATE. 



FOREIGN-BORN WHITE BUND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT POPULATION 



land 
and 
Wales. 



Ger- 



Italy. 



Nether- 
lands, 

Bel- 
gium, 

and 
Luxem- 
burg. 



Swit- Other 
zer- eoun- 
land. tries. 2 



Geographic divisions: 

New England 

Middle Atlantic 

East North Central. 
"West North Central. 

South Atlantic 

East South Central.. 
West South Central. 

Mountain 

Pacific 



New England: 

Maine 

New Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts — 

Rhode Island 

Connecticut 



Middle Atlaniic: 

New York 

New Jersey 



East North Central: 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 



West Noeth Central: 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North Dakota 

South Dakota 

Nebraska 

Kansas 



South Atlantic: 

Delaware 

Maryland 

District of Columbia . 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Georgia 

Florida 



Alabama. . . 
Mississippi. 



West South Central: 

Arkansas 

Louisiana 

Oklahoma 

Texas 



Mountain: 

Montana 

Idaho 

Wyoming 

Colorado 

New Mexico. 

Arizona 

Utah 

Nevada 



Pacific: 

Washington. 

Oregon 

California. . . 



1 Includes all persons reporting Newfoundland as country of birth. 



• Includes persons born at sea. 



GENERAL TABLES. 



43 



Tabu :$. BUND IVPI I ATION 



ENUMERATED \ I' NIK P0P1 I \l'h'\ CENS1 S, 
LND BEX, l'.Y 1M\ [SIONS LND STA fES 1910. 



CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO \<;r: 






I MRU) - 



GEOGRAPHIC MTOION*. 

Ian i 
Female 



MMdie Atlantic. 
Parnate 



Bast North Central. 
Female 



Wast Nonh Central. 

Mai.- 

Femai- . 



South Atlantic. 
Female .... 



East South Central. 

atale 

Fema! ... 



West Booth Central. 



Female 



Mountain.. 
Male... 
Female. 



New England: 

Main.- 

Male.... 
Female . 



New Hampshire. 
Mai 
Female 



Vermont — 
Male... 
Female . 



Massachusetts. 

Male 

Female.. . 



Uho-le Islan :. 

Male 

Female... 



Connecticut . 
Male.... 
Female . 



Middle Atlantic: 

New York 

Male 

Female 



New Jersev. 
Male... 
Female. 



Pennsylvania. 
Female.. . 



Indiana 

Male.... 
Female. 



Winnis 

Female. 



Michigan.... 
Female. 



LTION i M Ml RATI D vr POPU1 I 



I'll- 

del i 

\e.ir 

olace. 



10,001 

•- 

11,781 

- ■ i 
5,040 



4.. Ml 

7,019 

3,189 

5,031 
3. 134 
3, 197 



2.065 

1,388 

877 



2.W6 
1,084 

962 



1,892 

! it 
2,106 



3.710 

1,580 

2,121 
1,194 

927 

2,975 






2i | as 



10 to 15 to 50 to 



of age. 



out,, iu to 

I.I l.'.l 

Mage. ofne,e. 






1,917 

2,:»vi 



44 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 3.— BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO AGE 
AND SEX, BY DIVISIONS AND STATES: 1910— Continued. 



DIVISION .VXD STATE AND SEX. 



BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 



derl 
year 

of age 



15 to 
19 

years 



• 



34 

years 
ofage. ofage. 



70 to 

74 
year.; 
olage. 



"West North Central: 

Minnesota 

Male 

Female 



Iowa 

Male.... 
Female. 



Missouri 

Male.... 
Female. 



South Dakota. 

Male 

Female... 



South Atlantic: 

Delaware 

Male 

Female.. . 



District of Columbia. 

Male.... 

Female 



Virginia 

Male.... 
Female. 



West Virginia- 
Male 

Female . . . 



North Carolina. 

Male 

Female 



South Carolina. 

Male 

Female 



Georgia 

Male.... 
Female . 



Florida 

Male.... 
Female. 



East South Central: 

Kentucky 

Male 

Female 



Tennessee- . . 
Male.... 
Female. 



Mississippi.. 
Male.... 
Female. 



West South Central: 

Arkansas 

Male 

Female 



Louisiana... 
Male.... 
Female. 



Texas 

Male.... 
Female . 



584 
2,442 
l]069 

167 



2, 1.53 

1,206 

947 



. 1,370 



32 
17 


54 

40 


9 

14 


64 
40 
24 


48 

22 
26 


74 
45 
29 


10 


13 



74 




24 


1 


60 


2 


128 


9 


5(1 


5 




4 


11 


1 


18 


2 


ifin 


9 


79 




81 


9 


131 


2 


H« 


2 


69 




127 


6 


13fi 


5 


53 


2 


70 


2 


35 


2 


35 




96 


7 


36 


1 


60 


6 


55 


5 


17 


2 


38 


3 


167 


12 


74 


8 


93 


4 



(il'M.KAI. TABLKS. 



4f> 



BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED at rill' POPU1 \TI<>\ CENSUS, CI OSSIFIED ACCORDING TO IGE 
AND BEX, BY DIVISIONS AND STATES 1910 Continued. 





BLDJP r.'ii i atOH iMntiuren tT POFULAXIOll us- is: 1910. 




Total. 


I'll- 
derl 


no 4 


5to9 

nan 


10 to 
14 

man 

of age. 


1510 
19 

man 

of age. 


20 to 
24 

vr.vrs 
ofnu.-. 


25 to 

29 

man 

ofagt 


an io 

34 

man 


35 to 
SO 

if ago. 


40 to 

44 
ft u 
of age. 


r. to 

49 

man 

Ofaga, 


50 to 
54 

man 

i>ruK.>. 


55 ii> 

59 


64 
ofaga, 


69 


7n U) 
74 

■ 


75 to 
79 


80 to 

84 
yours 

.1 uv 


85 

ofiiKd 

or 
over. 


Ace 

iiui 
r<- 
p..rl- 
M). 


' 


118 

50 

158 

ga 

05 

48 
31 
17 

MO 
138 

554 

Jls 

106 
131 

65 

188 
103 
BS 

97 
54 
43 

439 

>1 
158 

297 
199 
98 

1,329 

421 






1 


ll 
5 
6 

9 
6 

3 


6 
4 
1 

10 
5 
5 

2 

1 

17 
11 

a 

19 
10 

9 

6 
4 
2 

4 

2 
2 

2 
2 

20 
13 

5 
3 

60 
32 
28 


5 

■-• 

a 

3 

4 


6 
6 

4 
1 

2 



5 
4 

5 
5 

2 

15 
8 
7 

21 

7 

a 

5 

5 
3 

2 
2 


6 

4 
2 

7 
4 

8 

3 
2 

24 
19 
5 

22 

17 
5 

8 
6 
2 

5 
4 

1 

3 
2 

15 
10 
5 

11 
6 
5 

48 
36 
12 


11 
10 

1 

11 

4 
7 

2 

2 

16 
9 

25 
10 

15 

16 
14 
2 

5 

5 

5 
5 


9 

7 
2 

10 

7 
3 

6 
5 

1 

20 
16 
4 

33 

22 
11 

10 
2 

13 

4 

3 
3 


n 
u 

6 

1 
5 

4 
3 

1 

30 
19 

11 

24 

18 

11 

14 

8 
6 

15 
9 
6 

3 
1 
2 

29 
24 
5 

20 
15 

5 

93 
73 

20 


is 
18 
5 

12 
9 
3 

2 

9 

30 
23 

27 
19 

8 

15 
11 
4 

12 

3 

1 

36 
25 
11 

17 
6 

76 
53 
23 


11 

B 
3 

4 

1 

a 

4 

1 

35 
22 
13 

51 
32 

19 

16 
10 
6 

9 
3 

17 
3 
14 

32 
18 

14 

18 
11 

7 

115 
93 
22 


13 


4 

12 

6 

:i 


12 
7 
5 

10 
1 
6 

a 


13 
4 

12 


ta 

9 
4 

IS 

13 
6 

2 

1 

20 
14 

6 

30 

12 
IS 

19 
12 

7 

11 

7 


5 
4 

32 
24 
8 

20 
13 
7 

113 
71 
42 


n 
6 



15 
11 
4 

2 
1 

28 

n 

12 

46 
39 

17 

19 
12 
7 

12 
6 
6 

8 
5 
3 

2S 
15 
13 

25 
14 
11 

104 
56 

48 






















i 


1 


4 
3 

1 










i 


1 
































10 
8 
8 

23 
11 
12 

5 

4 

12 
9 

1 
...... 

17 
9 

12 

11 

1 

45 
26 
19 


1 

9 
8 

24 
12 

12 

8 
4 
4 

5 
3 

2 
2 






i 


1 


8 
8 

12 

8 
4 

4 

4 

8 
3 
6 

1 
1 


9 
5 

4 

21 
10 
11 

4 

3 

1 

12 

a 

4 

...... 

10 
7 
3 

10 
8 
2 

36 
20 
16 


86 

23 
13 

■10 
24 
16 

11 

3 

14 

14 

8 

42 
25 
17 

30 
20 
10 

126 
99 
27 


:u 
18 
13 

71 
45 
26 

14 
5 
9 

20 
10 
10 

12 

4 

11 
29 

12 

26 

21 

5 

107 
66 
41 


27 
16 

11 

53 

3S 
15 

14 

12 

2 

15 
4 
11 

34 
19 
15 

29 

17 
12 

131 
85 
46 


2 








i 

i 
...... 


1 

5 
4 

6 
3 
3 

2 


















, 




















i 


2 






, 














Pacific: 


3 

2 

2 
2 


13 
6 

4 

2 
2 

12 
6 
6 


16 
11 
5 

11 

3 

37 
27 
10 


15 

12 
8 

4 

49 
34 
15 


26 
17 
9 

IS 

18 

5 

72 
52 
20 


28 
18 
10 

23 
18 
5 

96 
75 
21 












Or 














1 


4 

2 
2 




Male 


2 











46 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 4.— BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO RACE, 

NATIVITY, AND AGE, BY DIVISIONS: 1910. 



BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 



35 to 

39 
yeai ■ 



55 to 
59 

years 



UNITED STATES. 
All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

Geographic Divisions, 
new england. 
All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

MIDDLE ATLANTIC. 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

EAST NORTH CENTRAL. 

All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

WEST NORTH CENTRAL. 

All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

SOUTH ATLANTIC. 

All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 

EAST SOUTH CENTRAL. 

All classes 

White 

Native 

Foreign-born 

Colored 

Negro 

Other colored 



37,646 
9,939 



. oii'J 

2,718 

451 

402 



1,841 

1, 038 

203 

450 

420 



! 724 

2, 194 

530 



■'. 179 
3,214 
1,105 



4,479 
3,077 
1,402 



GENERAL TABLES. 



IT 



Table •». — BI. IX D POPtl 



Al'loN i'\l MERATED A.T THE I'ori I ITION I EN81 B, I I ISSIFIED ACCORDING TO K.\< i: 
NATIVITY, AM' AGE, Itv DIVI8ION8: 1910 Continued 

















D POPULATION KNUMUUTP.Ii AI POPUI WKffl 






0. 




















UtlMUU AND CLASS OF 

population. 


Total. 


I'll- 

oVr 1 
o( 

Ifa 


1 lo 4 

of 


5 toO 

ol 

age. 


10 to 

14 
of 

3R0. 


15 to 
19 

of 
age. 


B0 to 

24 

of 
ago. 


25 to 
IB 

y.ir. 

of 
age. 


30 to 
14 

• 
ol 

'•" 

.'1. 


39 

ol 

age. 


10 to 

ol 

ago. 


IB 

' ol 

kg*. 


10 to 

1 
\i' U 
of 
ago. 


ft ir 
of 
If*. 


80 to 
84 

of 


8 . to 

..'1 

of 


7(1 (0 
74 

of 
404 


78 to 

79 

of 
ago. 

402 


goto 

of 
ago. 

894 


88 

Oflft 

B88 


DO) 

K 

portal 


OtooRAPtiu Dm 

wist sotm central. 


-•..., a i 


B 


U 




237 


27S 


27 : 


385 


an 


246 


IBS 


351 


868 


187 


453 










3,871 

MO 
1,750 

1.1.19 
101 

U7W 


a 

a 
..... 

3 

4 


30 

29 
1 
lv 
17 

1 

15 


110 

107 

39 

as 

i 

38 


165 
181 

4 

7B 

Ik'. 
6 

81 


190 

1S7 
1 
88 

81 
60 


is: 
IT! 

10 

n 

84 
74 


172 

157 

u 

IIS 

[OS 

B 

73 


Itki 

187 

9 

M 


71 


196 
179 
[8 

84 

1 

78 


175 
If.'. 
10 
71 
69 
2 

91 


231 

am 
IB 
107 

Ml 


104 


Ml 

229 
23 
99 
92 
7 

107 


365 
88 

81 

'.IS 

92 

6 
LIB 


31(1 
272 

44 
121 
LOB 

12 

149 


332 

ao4 

88 

121 
109 
12 

L4S 


349 
183 

Ii7 

II.'. 

143 

2 

172 


301 
251 

80 

101 

99 
2 

143 

123 

83 
40 
20 
1 
19 

194 


314 
178 

111 
1117 

a 

125 


an 
184 
46 

171 
12 

136 


15 














in 




MOINTUS. 








Win:.- 


1,43-1 

l.Ui 
323 

17 

3,065 


8 

a 

i 


11 
10 

1 
4 


33 
32 

5 


58 
56 
2 
9 


55 
54 

11 


68 
66 
2 
6 


64 

6 
9 

2 
7 

64 


62 
58 
4 
9 
..... 

76 


66 
57 

9 
12 

2 
10 

74 


69 
49 
20 
22 

""22 
116 


86 
68 
18 
18 
2 
16 

147 


80 
58 
28 
21 
3 
18 

142 


99 
67 
32 

a> 
1 

19 

129 


109 
80 
29 

40 


113 
77 
88 
35 


140 
104 
86 
82 

1 
31 

171 


86 
84 
32 
8fl 

4 
8E 

165 


99 
74 
25 

37 
1 
36 

157 























i 
i 


4 
9 


5 
29 


9 
60 


11 
88 


6 
74 


40 
165 


35 
198 




r.uiru\ 








Whito 


1,846 

l . 283 

m 

IV, 


i 
i 


9 
9 


29 
29 


55 
54 
] 


86 
82 
4 
2 
2 


71 
64 
7 
3 


63 
53 

10 




73 
53 
20 
3 

3 


69 
50 
19 
5 
1 
4 


108 
75 
33 
i 


133 
88 
45 
14 
3 
11 


131 
84 

47 
11 
2 
9 


122 
89 
33 

7 
1 
6 


149 
104 
45 
16 

12 


183 
121 
62 
15 
4 
11 


150 
86 
64 
24 
3 
21 


170 
91 
79 
24 
4 
20 


137 
93 
41 
28 

1 
27 


103 
54 
49 
54 
S 
49 












ColonM 




























1 















48 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



..—BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO RACE, 
NATIVITY, AGE, AND SEX, FOR THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE: 1910. 



SEX AND AGE GROUP. 



BOTH SEXES 
All ages 

Under 1 year 

1 to 4 years 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over 

Age not reported 

MALE. 
All ages 

Under 1 year 

1 to 4 years 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over 

Age not reported 

FEMALE. 
All ages 

Under 1 year 

1 to 4 years 

5 to 9 years 

10 to 14 years 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over 

Age not reported 



BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 1910. 



576 

889 

982 

985 

892 

875 

926 

1,010 

1,197 

1,450 

1,452 

1,926 

2,162 

2,353 

2,343 



2,007 
2,290 
2,724 
3,069 
3,111 
3,774 
4,379 
4,367 
4,479 
3,512 



100 



5S5 
921 
1,002 
1,003 
1,062 
1,134 



1,879 
2,164 
2,511 
2,353 
2,445 
1,746 
1,552 



2,014 
2,034 
1,766 
1,781 



418 
1,041 
1,642 
1,762 
1,661 
1,617 
1,638 
1,755 
1,893 
2,194 
2,456 
2,423 
2,845 



3,077 

2,465 

2,340 

72 



1,369 
1,457 
1,431 



(ilM.UAl. TARLKS. 



49 



Table 6. MAI E AM' 1 I'M Al E Bl 1M> P0PU1 \ riOIS EN1 Mil: \ I ED \T THE POPD1 \ TIOIS ' BN81 - CLASSIFIED 
ACCORDING fO MARITAL OONDITION B^i DIVI8IONS ^ND STATES 1910 



*\l> STATE. 



I'.srrn 

QaooiAjnnc an 

New England 

Middle Atlantic 

Bast North Central 
Wast North Central. 

South Atlantic 

East South Central. . 
\\ asl South Central. . 

Mountain 

Pacific 

New England: 

Maine 

New Hampshire 

Vermont .... 
Mass.whus.r- 

Bhode Island 

Connecticut 

Middle Atlantic: 

New York 

New Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

East North Central: 

Ohio 

Indiana. 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

West North Central: 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North Dakota 

South Dakota 

Nebraska. 

Kansas 

South Atlantic: 

Delaware 

Man-land 

District of Columbia. 

Virginia 

West Virginia 

North Carolina 

South Carolina 

Florida." ."............ 

East South Central: 

Kentucky 

see 

na 

JPP' 

West South Central: 

Arkansas 

Louisiana 

Oklahoma 

Texas 

Mountain: 

Montana. 

Idaho 

Wyoming 

Colorado 

New Mexico 

Arizona 

Utah 

Nevada 

Pacific: 

Washington 

Oregon 

California 



iilini" run 1.AT10S i:numm(ati:i> vr rori i vtion i i s 



Under 

of age. 



357 

155 

150 

1,064 



2.5 V. 
611 

3, try 



15 years of ago or over.' 



2.H7S 

8,701 
(,097 
3,545 

1,034 
1,388 



1.618 
B41 

697 



1,123 
943 
801 
678 



Single. 



661 
1 . 780 
8,013 



447 
1,088 

1,305 
795 
7 7 '.i 
758 
583 
231 



t.ii ooa- 

ilitioii 
ii.il re- 
ported. 



1.863 
1,888 

:..II4U 

8,789 

3,487 

681 



2,106 

516 

1,703 



Undai 
15 yean 
oi age. 






1.743 

I ills 

i 

3,447 

2.942 

2.2i>:! 

629 

037 






5:19 
l . 283 

1.340 

695 

1,097 

908 

58'.. 



378 

B86 

1,854 



1,514 

1 . 285 

1,033 

294 



Mari- 
tal run. 

dltlan 

nut re- 
ported. 



> Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



50 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 7.— MALE AND FEMALE BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED 
ACCORDING TO RACE, NATIVITY, AND MARITAL CONDITION, FOR THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE: 1910. 



AGE GROUP AND MARITAL CONDITION. 



BLIND POPULATION ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 



Total 

Under 15 years of age 

15 years of age or over ' 

Single 

Married 

Widowed 

Divorced 

Marital condition not reported. 



Total. 



Under 15 years of age 

15 years of age or over' 

Single 

Married 

"Widowed 

Divorced 

Marital condition not reported. 



2,078 
30, 365 
9,777 
13,911 
6,208 
317 
152 



26, 994 


21, 179 


5,815 


5,449 


4,971 












1,765 


1,727 


38 


313 


289 


25, 229 


19, 452 


5,777 


5,136 


4,682 


8,236 


6,916 


1,320 


1,541 


1,451 


11, 640 


8,747 


2,893 


2,271 


2,037 


4,982 


3,485 


1,497 




1,109 


250 


212 


38 


67 


59 


121 


92 


29 


31 


26 



24, 



1,718 
23,111 
6,752 
6,105 
10, 019 
148 



1,474 
19, 117 
5,930 
5,105 
7,910 
114 
58 



1,437 
15, 030 
5,261 



891 

1,928 

25 



' Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



-MALE AND FEMALE BLIND POPULATION 15 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER ENUMERATED AT THE POPULATION 
CENSUS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO AGE AND MARITAL CONDITION: 1910. 



AGE GROUP. 



BLIND POPULATION 15 TEARS OP AGE OR OVER ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 1910. 1 



Marital 
condition 

not 
reported. 



Marital 
condition 

not 
reported. 



15 years or over 

15 to 19 years 

20 to 24 years 

25 to 29 years 

30 to 34 years 

35 to 39 years 

40 to 44 years 

45 to 49 years 

50 to 54 years 

55 to 59 years 

60 to 64 years 

65 to 69 years 

70 to 74 years 

75 to 79 years 

80 to 84 years 

85 years or over 

Age not reported 



1,268 
1,355 
1,416 
1,604 
1,787 
2,128 
2,298 
2,243 
2,557 
2,910 



923 

1,129 

17 



1,010 
1,197 
1,450 
1,452 
1,926 
2,162 
2,353 
2,343 



1,665 
1,646 
2, 046 



Includes the small number whose i 



(;i:xi:i; \i. tabu-is. 



51 



Tahie9.— MALE \\'i> FEMALE BUND P0PU1 \tmn in YEARS OF A.GE OR OVEB ENUMERATED \T THE POPU- 
1 \ TION I ENSl - I l OSSIFIED \<< ORDING ["0 0< I I PATION, FOR THE I NITED BTATE8 as \ \\ BOLE: 1910 





huso i-oi-i i.vtios 10 vr.AR.t or AOE OK OVER imnBUTID LI POTUUTIOH CHI 1 S: 1UM) ' 




\1,!, 


Female. 


OOI 1 


All 
Blesses. 


Whit... 


Colored. 


All 

els m. 


White. 




Colored 






Total. 




Korolirn- 

bom. 


Total. 


Negro. 


Other 
colored. 


Total. 


Native. 


burn. 


Totsl. 


Negro 


Other 

"i l. 


Total.. 


81, «n 


86, IM 


20,358 


5,792 




4,857 


466 


21.01HI 


10,877 


16,788 


4,111 


1.123 


3,770 


353 








7,976 


6,783 




1,211 


1,193 


i. 118 


78 


1,345 


1,062 


899 


163 


283 


265 


18 






;re.fi>resirv, animal husbandry, and 

• 


2,370 


1,860 


1,601 


259 


415 


373 


42 


234 


145 


121 


24 


89 


87 


2 








1,768 
55 
339 
40 
39 
34 

S7 
1,906 


1,468 

52 
242 
33 
37 
28 

76 
1,770 


1,269 

40 
207 

30 
31 

24 

43 
1,395 


199 
1-' 
35 
3 
6 
4 

33 

375 


300 

97 

7 
2 
6 

11 
136 


265 
3 
94 
3 

6 
9 

131 


35 
...... 

4 

5 


127 
5 
92 


08 

4 

35 


81 
3 
30 


18 
5 


28 

1 
57 


26 

1 
57 


2 


Truck farmers. ir\iit growers. ilorLst.---. etc... 










5 
5 


3 
4 


3 
4 




2 


2 

1 












In manufacturim: and mechanical pursuits and 


389 


866 


294 


62 


33 


17 


16 






Shoemakers and cobblers (not in factories). . 


83 
50 
242 
39 

13 
30 

18 


20 
36 
204 
33 

30 
IS 


8 
26 
158 

25 

9 
21 

15 


12 
10 
46 
8 

2 
3 


2 
14 
38 

6 

2 


14 
37 

2 


















...... 


17 
43 

1 

5 

10 

5 
102 
86 

18 
10 
28 
11 
6 
3 
5 


9 
37 

5 
9 

5 
101 
85 

16 
9 

11 
6 
3 
4 


7 
33 

5 
8 

4 
75 
73 

13 
7 

16 
10 

3 
4 


2 
4 


8 
6 


""hi 


8 










Operatives in printing and publishing 










Carpet and rug makers (not in factories!.. . 
Hammock and net makers (not in fac- 


1 
26 
12 

3 
2 

1 


1 


1 




















1 

2 
1 
6 


i 

6 






6 

19 
16 


6 

17 
15 


6 

15 
7 










1 


-. not otherwise specified (not in 


2 
8 


I 


1 




2 




1 








665 
45 

349 
23 
53 

46 
270 

188 


649 
42 

344 
17 
35 

46 
247 

165 


532 
33 
313 

8 
25 

31 

163 

127 


117 
9 
31 
9 
10 

15 
84 

38 


16 

5 
6 

18 


15 

3 
4 
6 
18 


1 


























1 


1 








Manufacturers and officials, contractors 




















23 
23 


22 
22 


1 


39 
13 


33 
13 


29 
11 


4 


6 


2 


4 
















53 
24 
111 

1,609 


II 
24 
97 

1,470 


36 
23 

68 

1,174 


8 
29 

2% 


9 


9 






















4 
83 


79 


8 
3 


1 










14 
139 


13 
134 


1 
5 










4 


4 








Bankers, brokers, commission merchants, 


22 
77 
401 
55 

69 

69 

29 
119 
278 

92 

195 
98 
105 


22 
74 
352 
50 

69 

63 

28 
106 
258 

184 
86 
90 


18 
61 
260 
41 

53 

57 

22 
87 
203 

76 

151 

70 

7.) 


4 
13 
92 

9 

16 
6 

6 

19 
55 

12 

33 
16 
15 
























49 
5 


48 
5 


II 


1 
14 
2 


10 

2 


1 
9 

1 












1 
1 


4 


4 








Retail merchants and dealers, cigars and 








Retail merchants and dealers, general 


6 

1 
13 
20 

4 

11 
12 
15 


6 

12 
18 

4 

11 
12 

14 




1 


1 


1 










Retail merchants and dealers, music and 










Retail merchants and dealers, groceries 

Otner retail merchants and dealers . 

Salesmen, saleswomen, and clerks (in 


1 
2 

...... 


5 
10 

9 

36 

4 


5 
10 

9 

36 
1 
4 


5 
7 

9 

34 

\ 










3 














Canvassers and asents (other than real 


2 
















A 11 others .' 











1 Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



52 



THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Table 9.— MALE AND FEMALE BLIND POPULATION 10 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER ENUMERATED AT THE POPU- 
LATION CENSUS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO OCCUPATION, FOR THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE: 1910— Con. 



OCCUPATION. 



BLIND POPULATION 10 YEARS OF AGE OK OVER ENUMERATED AT POPULATION CENSUS: 1910.' 



In service 

Public service. 



Professional service 

Authors, editors, reporters, journalists, 

and other writers 

Clergymen and other religious workers 

Lawyers 

Musicians and teachers of music 

Physicians and surgeons 

Professors, school principals, and 

teachers 

Professional entertainers 

All others 



Domestic and personal service 

Boarding and lodging house keepers. . . 
Hotel, restaurant, and lunch-room 

keepers 

Janitors 

Launderers and laundresses (not in 

laundries) 

Nurses 

Saloon keepers and bartenders 

Servants and waiters 

Wood sawyers and woodchoppers 

All others 



All other service 

Organ grinders. 
All others 



In miscellaneous and unclassifiable occupations 



Not gainfully employed. 

iving on own income 

11 others 



1 Includes the small number whose age was not reported. 



ADDITIONAL COPIES 

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM 

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

■WASHINGTON, D. C. 



15 CENTS PER COPY 
V 



LIST OF PUBLICATIONS OF THE PERMANENT CENSUS BUREAU— Continued 






(Thee* | 






^^^^RP anue-t 






.•'l.andll'Uv'n * 

TanfMrk. an.i tanning <">> ■' 

>:nphkt VMDOt Lau«-1 in 191 
KxoaMoi 

TteM coop«raft (■ 

WoaddfaUltaJion: 

Oosylan | "MW, 1 




, anil 

1. 
11. 

o and 




for sal* or 
'orapeny 


."be, are 

que*'.* •■« lor of the 


••v Jarsey , Tanmasae, and V 
Stroyad. 




The following TohUDes bare baas ta 






Maryland. Ma*, v 

:a contain* tba stat 






osdytrtn 










n, history, and resources: Wu7 (com- 



e Philippine 































VITAL STATI 

•Est*nsion of registration area for births and deaths; a 
ii> of cooperative census methods as 
applied to the state of Penniylram: 

nal classification o( causui of sickness and 

Legal Importance of registration of births and deaths: 

::tlon of vital sta- 



Ihe dependant 



: us publications, seo following page. 



THIRTEENTH CENSUS (1910) PUBLIC AT 

)f the volumes of the final census reports, giving the results of the Thirteenth 

i I to XI (comprising 10,879 pages), constituting the complete reports of 



HHIIIIIMI1I 

0029 827 397 4 # 



1 



S7» pages;, constituting tne complete reports ol tne census, > 
editions, intended chiefly for libraries, institutions, and special students of statistics. Because of the restricted distri- 
to receive any or all of the volumes is asked to accompany his request by an explanatory statement 
I ify the Director of the Census in placing his name upon the mailing list. The following list gives the title or description 
of each of the reports and bulletins issued in connection with the Thirteenth Census: 



FINAL BEP0BT3 OF THE THIRTEENTH CENSUS. 

Form." 

Vol. I.— General report and analysis. 

..U chapter of this volume was printed as a 
separate. The titles are listed below.) 
Vol. II.— Reports by states, with statistics for 
counties, cities, and other civil divisions— Ala- 
bama to Montana. 1160 p. 
Vol. III.— Same— Nebraska to Wyoming; Alaska, 

Hawaii, and Porto Rico. 1225 p. 
Vol. I V— Occupation statistics. 615 p. 
Agriculture: 

Vol. V.— General report and analysis. 927 



Vol. VI.— Reports by states, with statistics for 
counties— Alabama to Montana. 877 p. 

Vol. VII.— Same— Nebraska to Wyoming; Alaska, 
Hawaii.and Porto Rico. 1013p. 

MANUFACTURES: 

Vol. VIII.— General report and analysis. 845 p. 

Vol. IX.— Reports by states, with statistics for 
principal cities. 1404 p. 

Vol. X.— Reports for principal industries. 975 p. 
(Each of the reports for the industries shown 
in this volume was printed as a separate bulletin. 
The titles are given below under the heading 
"Manufactures industry bulletins.") 
Mining: 

Vol. XI.— Mines and quarries. 369 p. 

REPRINTS Or CHATTERS OF FINAL REPORTS. 

Each of the chapters of Volume I of the final reports, 
which is the general report and analysis of the popula- 
tion statistics, was reprinted as a separate. The titles 
of the chapters are as follows: 

I. Number of inhabitants. 104 p. 

II. Color or race, nativity, and parentage. 122 p. 

III. Sex distribution. 42 p. 

IV. Age distribution. 218 p. 

f V. Marital condition. 182 p. 
VI. State of birth. 92 p. 
VII. Country of birth. 94p. 
VIII. Foreign white stock. 84 p. 
IX. Mother tongue. 58 p. 
X. Year of immigration. 18 p. 
XI. Voting and militia ages. 84 p. 
XII. School attendance. 88 p. 

XIII. Illiteracy. 80 p. 

XIV. Inability to speak English. 20 p. 
XV. Dwellings and families. 8 p. 

XVI. Ownership of homes. 74 p. 

The following tables from Volume TV, Occupation 
statistics, have Deen reprinted as separates: 

III. Occupations: Cities of 100,000 and over. 57 p. 

IV. Occupations: Cities of 25,000 and over. 85 p. 
V and IX. Occupation statistics: Alaska, Hawaii, 

and Porto Rico. 19 p. 
The titles of the chapters of Volume V, the general 
report and analysis of the statistics of agriculture, each 
of which was reprinted as a separate, are as follows: 
I. Farms and farm property. 70 p. 
II. Farm tenure. 60 p. 

III. Farm mortgages. 12 p. 

IV. Statistics of farms, classified by race, nativity, 

and tenure of farmers. 88 p. 
V. Sire of farms. 70 p. 

VI. Livestock on farmsand elsewhere. 146 p. 
VII. Live-stock products and domestic animals sold 

or slaughtered on farms. 58 p. 
Vm. Summary for all crops. 34 p. 
IX. Individual crops. 170 p. 
X. Agricultural statistics, by counties. 92 p. 
XI. Irrigation. 50 p. 
XII. Plantations in the South. 13 p. 
Tho following tables of Volume VIII. the general 
report and analysis of the statistics of manufactures, 
have been reprinted as separates: 

Tables V and VI. 2!5p. Table V.— Comparative 
summary— Principal industries, by states, 1909, 1904, 
and 1399. Table VI— Number of establishments, 
persons engaged, power, capital, expenses, and value 
of products— Industries by states, 1909. 

Chapter XV and Table I. Description of indi- 
vidual industries with principal statistics for each. 
145 p. 

The following section of Volume X , Reports for princi- 
pal industries, has been reprinted as a separate: 

Statistics of manufactures for metropolitan dis- 
tricts, 1909. 77 p. 

ABSTRACT OF THE CENSUS WITH STATE SUPPLEMENTS. 

The Abstract of the Census, a volume of 669 pages, 

which is intended for general distribution, is prepared 

in such a way as to meet the needs of most persons de- 

; concerning the results of the census. 

i is in tabular form all important census statis- 

i states as a whole and for each state 

and principal cities, together with a brief text and 

diagrams and maps explaining the figures and their 






ibles and text, 

dittons, one for 
a supplement 
Hies, and other 

at In thai 

| | , u | 



As a compact reference work of general and local in- 
e Abstract is more convenient for tnos t persons 
voluminous final reports. 
'.lowing list gives a summary of the chapters: 

Introduction. 

Population; 

1. Number and distribution of inhabitants. 

2. Color or. race, nativity, and parentage; sex; 

population 21 years of age and over; males of 
militia age. 

3. Age and marital condition. 

4. State of birth of native population. 

5. Population of foreign blrui and foreign parent- 

age, by country of origin. 

6. Foreign-born population— Date of immigration. 

7. Sohool attendance and illiteracy. 

8. Dwellings and families. 
Agriculture: 

9. Farms and farm property. 

10. Tenure, mortgage indebtedness, color and na- 

tivity of farmers, and sue of farms. 

1 1. Live stock on farms and elsewhere. 

12. Live-stock products, and domestic animals sold 

or slaughtered on farms. 

13. Farm crops— Acreage., production, and value. 

14. Irrigation and irrigated crops. 
Manufactures: 

15. Statistics for states, cities, and industries. 
Mines and quarries: 

16. Mines and Quarries. 

state bulletins. 
The state bulletin,?, ol which a few copies are avail- 
able for distribution, gi ve, each for a particular state, de- 
tailed results of the census for the main branches of 
population, agriculture, irrigation, and manufactures. 
These fall into several distinct series, as follows: 
Population: 

Fint uric*.— By counties and minor civil divi- 
sions. Gives the population of the state, the den- 
sity of population, and the urban and rural pop- 
ulation, with tables showing the population in 1910 
and 1900 for each county and for each minor civil 
division within the county. 

Second series.— Gives composition and character- 
istics of the population, statistics of color, nativity, 
parentage, sex, citltenship, illiteracy, school at- 
tendance, and dwellings and families, with tables 
for all counties, and for citios having 2,600 or more 
Inhabitants. 

The contents of these bulletins were printed as 
Volumes II and III of the final reports. 
Agriculture: 

First ttriti.— Number of farms, farm property, 
live stock, principal crops, and farm expenses. 

Seeoni series.— Reproduces the material for the 
first scries, and gives additional information in re- 
gard to tenure, live-stock products, and minor 
crops, and presents a completo record for each 
state and for each conntv of all the agricultural 
data gathered at the census of 1910. 

The contents of these bulletins were printed as 
Volumes VI and VII of the final reports. 
Irrigation: 

Statistics of irrigation, farms and acreage irri- 
gated, irrigation works, cost of construction, cost of 
operation and maintenance, and crops irrigated, 
issued separately for the following states: Arizona, 
California,Colorado,Idaho,Montana,Nevada,New 
Mexico, Oregon.Utah, Washington, and Wyominc, 
and in a single bullet in for Kansas , N ebraska. North 
Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas. 

The contents of these bulletins were printed in 
Volumes VI and VII in connection with the agri- 
cultural statistics of the states to which they relate. 
Manufactures: 

Statistics for manufactures for the states and for 
principal cities and industries. The contents of 
these bulletins, which were issued for each state, 
and forprincipal industries, were reprinted as Vol- 
ume IX, Reports by states, with statistics for prin- 
cipal cities, and Volume X, Reports for principal 
industries. 

abstract bulletins. 
Abstract bulletins give the general results of the cen- 
sus for the country as a whole by states, and, where 
applicable, by larejer cities. Allofthemattorcontnined 
In them has been reprinted In greater detail in the final 
reports. The following bulletins were issued: 
Population: 

Number and distribution of Inhabitants. 55 p. 
Color or race, nativity, parentage, sex, and males of 

voting and militia ages. 44 p. 
School attendance and Illiteracy. 39 p. 
A ge and marital condition. 47 p. 
Country of birth. 32 p. 
Stato of birth. 18 p. 
Occupation statistics. 107 p. 
Agriculture: 

Farms and farm property. 20 p. 

General farm crops. 28 p. 

Live stock on farms and elsewhere. 84 p. 

Tenure, mortgage indebtedness, color and nativity 

of fanners, and size of farms. 24 p. 
Crops. 69 p. 

Live-stock products. 16 p. 
Irrigation: 

Irr igat ion in the United States. 12 p. 
Manufacth 

Manufactures— States, cities, and industries. 90 p. 
Mlsf.s: 

Mining Industries in the United States. 24 p. 



MANUFACTUMS NDUSTBY BULLETINS. 

All of the matter contained in these bulletins was 
reprinted without change in Volume X, Reports for 
principal industries, of the final volumes. 
Agricultural implement industry. 12 p. 
Automobiles, Including bodies and parts. 17 p. 
Bicycles, motorcycles, and parts. p. 
Blast-furnace, steel-works, and rolling-mill, wire, and 

tinplate and temeplate industries. 80 p. 
Boots and shoes, Including cut stock and findings. 20p. 
Butter, cheese, and condensed-milk industry. 23 p. 
Canning and preserving. 23 p. 
Carriage and wagon industry. 17 p. 
Chemicals. 22 p. 
Clay-products industry. 26 p. 
Coke. 10 p. 

Cordage and twine and jute and linen goods. 11 p. 
Cotton goods, including cotton small wares. 30 p. 
Dyeing and finishing textiles. 10 p. 
Dyestufls and extracts. 7 p. 

Electrical machinery, apparatus, and supplies. 17 p. 
Essential oils. 6 p. 
Explosives. 7 p. 
Fertilizer industry. 13 p. 
Flour-mill and gristmill industry. 24 p. 
Fur-felt hat industry. 8 p. 
Oas. 19 p. 
Glass. 12 p. 

Q lucose and starch. 8 p. 
Hosiery and knit-goods industry. 25 p. 
Ice. 15 p. 

Leather glove and mlttea industry. 12 p. 
Leather industry. 19 p. 
Lumber industry. 24 p. 
Musical instruments and phonographs and grapho- 

S hones. 17 p. 
cloth and linoleum. 7 p. 
Paint and varnish industry. 13 p. 
Paper and wood-pulp industry. 18 p. 
Petroleum refining. 10 p. 
Printing and publishing industry. 41 p. 
Rice cleaning and polishing. 6 p. 



Salt. 7 p. 

Shipbuilding, including boat building 



19 p. 



Silk manufactures. 25 p. 
Slaughtering and meat-packing industry. 23 p. 
Soap. 11 p. 
Sugar. 15 p. 

Sulphuric, nitric, and mixed acids. 6 p. 
Steam laundries. 15 p. 
Turpentine and rosin industry. 18 p. 
Woolen, worsted , and felt goods, and wool bats, carpets 
and nigs, and shoddy. 48 p. 

MISCELLANEOUS BULLETINS. 

Besides abstract and state bulletins, which are de 

signed for more general distribution, there have been 

issued the following bulletins containing additional 

data and discussion regarding selected topics. All of 

the matter contained In these bulletins appears In the 

final volumes to which they pertain. 

Population of counties and equivalent subdivisions. 
30 p. 

Total population and area of the United 6tates, by 
states and territories. 16 p. 

Populationofcltiesof2,500inhabitantsand over. 46p. 

Center of population and median lines, continental 
United States. 8 p. 

Population of counties and minor civil divisions, 1010, 
1900, and 1890. 596 p. " *'>'< 

Cities and their suburbs. 6 p. 

Population of incorporated places. Ill p. 

Occupation statistics. 107 p. This bulletin contains 
the principal statistics for occupations, with expla- 
nation and analytical text shown in Volume IV. 

Irrigation for rice growing— Louisiana, Texas, and 
Arkansas. 14 p. 

Irrigation in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota Okla- 
homa, South Dakota, and Texas (exclusive of irriga- 
tion for rice). 28 p. 

Chemicals and allied products, 1909. 99 p. Thisbuller 
tin is a combination of the separately issued bulletins 
for general chemicals; bone, carbon, and lampblack; 
dyestufls and extracts; explosives; fertilizers; essen- 
tial oils; paint and varnish: sulphuric, nitric, and 
mixed acids; and wood distillation. 

Textiles, 1909. 175 p. This bulletin is a combination 
of the separately issued bulletins covering the textile 
industries: Cotton manufactures; hosiery and knit 
"goods; woolen, worsted, and felt goods, and wool 
hats; carpets and rugs; shoddy; wool pulling; wool 
scouring; fur-felt hats; silk manufactures; cordage 
and twine and Jute and linen goods; and the dyeing 
and printing of textiles. 

Metropolitan districts, 1909. 77 p. This bulletin In- 
cludes the statistics of manufactures for the following 
metropolitan districts: New York City, Chicago, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston. St. Louis, Cleve- 
land, Buffalo, Detroit. Cincinnati, Baltimore, Mln- 
neapolis-St. Paul, and San Francisco-Oakland. 

SPECIAL BULLETINS. 

The four bulletins named below contain statistical 

compilations not found in the final reports of the 

Thirteenth Census. 

Population of New York City, by enumeration dis- 
tricts. 23 p. 

Statistics of the Indian population, number, tribes, 
sex, age, fecundity , and vitality. 25 p. 

Age of farmers, by color of operator, character of 
tenure, and size of farm. 35 p. 

Stability of farm oparators, or term of occupancy of 
lanni 22 : , 



